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FREE    THOUGHT 


LBCTIJRKS  ! 


-AND- 


OE]  2^S  1 


-P,Y 


DR.  J  AS.    L.    VORK, 

.iutlioi-  and  Compiler. 


S.\X    JO.SK,    CAI.. 
A.    .S.    YORK,    KOOK    .\ND  JOB    I'RIXTKR. 

iSS8. 


THIS   LITTLE  VOLUME   OF 

FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS  AND   LECTURES 

IS   DEDICATED  TO   MY  WIFE, 

PERMELIA  ANN   YORK, 

A   WOMAN   FREE   FROM   THE   SLAVERY 

OF  RELIGION,    AND   A  WORKER 

IN  THE  CAUSE  OF 

Lhiiversal  mental  liberty^ 

The  watch-iuord  of  the  free, 

The  hope  of  sages  in  the  past. 

The  good  time  yet  to  be. 

BY  THE  AUTHOR  AND  COMPILER, 

DR.  J.  L.  YORK, 

SAN  JOSE,    CALIFORNIA. 


3L 

Y76f 


NO    ROYAL    ROAD. 


There  is  no  royal  road  in  life 

To  freedom  of  the  mind; 
No  ro}al  road  to  wealth  of  thought — 

One  path  for  all  mankind. 
Man's  highest  good  no  more  conserved 

By  myths,  though  honored  in  their  day, 
Now  simply  asks  for  reason's  light 

To  guide  and  point  the  way. 

Our  pathway  here  on  every  side 

Is  hedged  with  cares  and  tears — 
One  constant  struggle  to  be  free 

From  darkness,  doubt  and  fears. 
No  light  but  that  of  reason  comes, 

Man's  pathway  to  illume; 
The  day-star  of  his  hope  to  be 

From  the  cradle  to  the  tomb. 

The  cry  of  faith  by  priests  of  old 

Grows  feebler  in  our  day, 
And  creeds  and  dogmas  of  belief 

Are  soon  to  pass  away. 
To  break  the  bonds  of  priest  and  king, 

And  lift  the  burdened  out. 
Some  one  must  lead  the  wa}- 

And  to  the  masses  shout. 


611112 


lO  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

No  royal  road  is  there 

To  riches  of  the  mind; 
The  rich  and  poor  alike  may  know 

The  jo3^s  of  truth  sublime. 
True  manhood  does  not  come 

Through  titled  name  or  might, 
By  wealth,  or  kingly  power  bestowed, 

But  grows  by  love  of  truth  and  right. 

In  all  the  ages  of  the  past 

Some  souls  with  inspiration's  flame 
Have  lighted  up  the  world  of  thought, 

Though  doomed  to  fellon's  name. 
And  thus  the  thought  of  our  time 

Needs  stirring  to  profoundest  depth ; 
The  darkness  of  the  past  so  drear 

Were  ours  to-day  had  L,uther  silent  kept. 

Had  Bruno  quailed  at  firey  stake. 

And  Servetus  held  his  peace, 
Perhaps  we  still  in  bonds  might  be, 

To  Pope,  and  church,  and  priest. 
Had  priestly  rule  held  sway. 

No  science  had  been  born 
To  scatter  blessings  in  our  path 

And  shed  the  beams  of  morn. 

We  hail  the  day  of  knowledge  near. 

When  faith  no  more  shall  claim 
A  blind  obedience  to  her  will 

In  truth's  ennobling  name. 
How  much  we  owe  our  gratitude 

To  sage  and  thinker  of  the  past. 
Whose  lives  went  out  in  fire  and  flame 

That  we  might  reap  at  last. 


AND  MHHRAL  LKCTURKS. 

The  dearest  boon  we  hold  to-day; 

The  freedom  to  think  and  speak, 
We  owe  to  those  who've  gone  before — 

Whose  names  our  memory  gladly  keep. 
Of  all  the  names  we  hold  most  dear. 

Who  fought  for  reason's  reign. 
Lets  join  and  give  three  rousing  cheers 

For  truth  and  Thomas  Paine. 


WHAT  I  LIVE  FOR. 


I  live  for  those  that  love  me. 
For  those  I  know  are  true, 
For  the  heaven  that  smiles  above  me. 

And  awaits  my  spirit,  too; 
For  the  human  ties  that  bind  me. 
For  the  task  that  God  a.ssigned  me. 
For  the  bright  hopes  left  behind  me, 
And  the  good  that  I  can  do. 

I  live  to  learn  their  story. 

Who've  suffered  for  my  sake, 

To  emulate  their  glory. 
And  follow  in  their  wake; 

Bards,  martyrs,  patriots,  sages. 

The  noblest  of  all  ages. 

Whose  deeds  crown  histor>''s  pages, 
And  time's  great  volume  make. 


12  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

I  live  to  hail  the  season 

By  gifted  minds  foretold, 
When  men  shall  live  by  reason, 

And  not  alone  for  gold; 
When  man  to  man  united, 
And  every  wrong  thing  righted, 
The  whole  world  shall  be  lighted 
As  Eden  was  of  old. 

I  live  to  hold  communion 
With  all  there  is  divine: 

To  feel  there  is  a  union 
•"Twixt  Nature's  heart  and  mine; 

To  profit  by  affliction. 

Reap  truths  from  fields  of  fiction, 

Grow  wiser  from  conviction. 
And  fulfill  each  grand  design. 

I  live  for  those  who  love  me, 

For  those  who  know  me  true. 
For  the  heaven  that  smiles  above  me 

And  awaits  my  spirit  too; 
For  the  wrong  that  needs  resistance, 
For  the  cause  that  lacks  assistance, 
For  the  dawning  in  the  distance. 
And  the  good  that  I  can  do. 


AND  MBKRAL  IJXTURKS.  13 


ETERNAL    JUSTICE. 

The  man  is  thought  a  knave  or  fool, 

Or  bigot,  plotting  crime. 
Who,  for  the  advancement  of  his  kind. 

Is  wiser  than  his  time. 
For  him  the  hemlock  shall  distill;  ^ 

For  him  the  axe  be  bared; 
For  him  the  gilibet  shall  be  built; 

For  him  the  stake  prepared. 
Him  shall  the  scorn  and  wrath  of  men 

Pursue  with  deadly  aim; 
And  malice,  envy,  spite  and  lies 

Shall  desecrate  his  name. 
But  truth  .shall  conquer  at  the  last. 

For  round  and  round  we  run. 
And  ever  the  right  comes  uppermost. 

And  ever  is  justice  done. 

Pace  through  thy  cell,  old  vSocrates, 

Cheerily  to  and  fro; 
Trust  to  the  impulse  of  th\-  soul, 

And  let  the  poison  flow. 
They  may  shatter  to  earth  the  lump  of  clay 

That  holds  a  light  divine. 
But  they  cannot  quench  the  fire  of  thought 

Bv  anv  such  deadlv  wine. 


14  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

The}^  cannot  blot  thy  spoken  words 

From  the  memorj^  of  man, 
By  all  the  poison  ever  brewed 

Since  time  its  course  began. 
To-day  abhored,  to-morrow  adored, 

So  round  and  round  we  run, 
And  ever  the  truth  comes  uppermost, 

And  ever  is  justice  done. 

Plod  in  thy  cave,  gray  Anchorite, 

Be  wiser  than  thy  peers; 
Augment  the  range  of  human  power, 
"*  And  trust  to  coming  years. 
They  may  call  the  wizard  and  monk  accursed, 

And  load  thee  with  dispraise; 
Thou  wert  born  five  hundred  years  too  soon 

For  the  comfort  of  thy  days. 
But  not  too  soon  for  human  kind: 

Time  hath  reward  in  store; 
And  the  demons  of  our  sires  become 

The  saints  that  we  adore. 
The  blind  can  see,  the  slave  is  lord. 

So  round  and  round  we  run. 
And  ever  the  wrong  is  proved  to  be  wrong. 

And  ever  is  justice  done. 

Keep,  Galileo,  to  thy  thought. 

And  nerve  thy  soul  to  bear;  wring 

They  may  gloat  o'er  the  senseless  words  they 

From  the  pangs  of  thy  despair; 
They  may  veil  their  eyes,  but  cannot  hide 

The  sun's  meridian  glow; 
The  heel  of  a  priest  may  tread  the  down. 


AND  MBKRAI,  LECTURES.  15 

And  a  tyrant  may  work  thee  woe; 
But  never  a  truth  has  been  destroyed; 

They  may  curse  it  and  call  it  crime; 
Pervert  and  betray,  or  slander  and  slay 

Its  teachers  for  a  time. 
But  the  sunshine  aye  shall  light  the  sky, 

As  round  and  round  we  run, 
And  truth  shall  ever  come  uppermo.st, 

And  justice  shall  be  done. 

And  live  there  now  such  men  as  these — 

With  thou.i;hts  like  the  great  of  old?   ^ 
Many,  have  died  in  their  misery 

And  left  their  thoughts  untold; 
And  many  live,  and  are  ranked  as  mad. 

And  are  placed  in  the  cold  world's  ban, 
For  sending  bright,  far-seeing  souls 

Three  centuries  in  the  van. 
They  toil  in  penury  and  grief, 

Unknown,  if  not  maligned; 
Forlorn,  forlorn,  bearing  the  scorn 

Of  the  meanest  of  mankind. 
But  yet  the  world  goes  round  and  round, 

And  the  genial  seasons  run, 
And  the  truth  ever  conies  uppermost. 

And  ever  is  justice  done. 


1 6  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


T^E  CJ^EHJIST^Y  OB  G5yi^;fl[(?;TE^. 


John,  and  Peter,  and  Robert,  and  Paul, 
God,  in  his  wisdom,  created  them  all. 
John  was  a  statesman,  and  Peter  a  slave, 
Robert  a  preacher,  and  Paul — was  a  knave. 
Kvil  or  good  as  the  case  might  be, 
Wnite,  or  colored,  or  bond,  or  free — 
John,  and  Peter,  and  Robert,  and  Paul, 
God,  in  his  wisdom,  created  them  all. 

Out  of  earth's  elements,  mingled  with  flame, 
Out  of  life's  compounds  of  glory  and  shame. 
Fashioned  and  shaped  by  no  will  of  their  own. 
And  helplessl}'  into  life's  history  thrown; 
Born  by  the  law  that  compels  men  to  be. 
Born  to  conditions  they  could  not  foresee; 
John,  and  Peter,  and  Robert,  and  Paul, 
God,  in  his  wisdom,  created  them  all. 

John  was  the  head  and  the  heart  of  his  State, 
Was  trusted  and  honored,  was  noble  and  great. 
Peter  was  made  'neath  life's  burdens  to  groan, 
And  never  once  dreamed  that  his  soul  was  his  own. 
Robert  great  glorj'  and  honor  received. 
For  zealously  preaching  what  no  one  believed: 
While  Paul  of  the  pleasure  of  sin  took  his  fill, 
And  gave  up  his  life  to  the  ser\'ice  of  ill. 


AND  LIHKRAI.  I.ECTURFS.  1 7 

It  chanced  that  these  men,  in  their  passing  away 
From  earth  and  its  confines,  all  died  the  same  day, 
John  was  mourned  thro'  the  length  and  breadth  of 

the  land — 
Peter  fell  'neath  the  lash  in  a  merciless  hand — 
Robert  died  with  the  praise  of  the  Lord  on   his 

tongue — 
While  Paul  was  convicted  of  murder,   and    hung. 
John,  and  Peter,  and  Robert,  and  Paul, 
The  purpose  of  life  was  fulfilled  in  them  all. 

Men  said  of  the  statesman ,  '  'How  noble  and  brave !' ' 
But  Peter,  alas! — "he  was  only  a  slave." 
Of  Robert— "  'Tis  well  with  his  soul— it  is  well:"' 
While  Paul  they  consigned  to  the  torments  of  hell. 
Born  by  one  law  through  all  Nature  the  same. 
What  made  them  differ?  and  who  was  to   blame? 
John,  and  Peter,  and  Robert,  and  Paul, 
God,  in  his  wisdom,  created  them  all. 

Out  of  that  region  of  infinite  light, 

Where  the  soul  of  the  black  man  is  pure  as  the 

white ; 
Out  where  the  spirit,  through  sorrow  made  wise. 
No  longer  resorts  to  deception  and  lies — 
Out  where  the  flesh  can  no  longer  control 
The  freedom  and  faith  of  the  God-given  soul — 
Who  shall  determine  what  change  may  befall 
John,  and  Peter,  and  Robert,  and  Paul? 

John  may  in  wisdom  and  goodness  increase- 
Peter  rejoice  in  an  infinite  peace— 


FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

Robert  may  learn  that  the  truths  of  the  Lord 
Are  more  in  the  spirit  and  less  in  the  word; 
And  Paul  may  be  blessed  with  a  holier  birth 
Than  the  passions  of  man  had  allowed  him  on 

earth. 
John,  and  Peter,  and  Robert,  and  Paul, 
God,  in  his  wisdom,  will  care  for  them  all. 


AND  LIBERAL  LECTURES.  1 9 


EVOLUTION, 


-OR- 


rrUE        TT^T^OI^ILiID        ■^;7v^E       XjI-^v^E       iist. 


Man  is  an  incarnate  question,  and  in  all  ages  of  the 
world  has  been  asking  questions  about  this  planet  and 
devising  theories  of  origin  for  this  globe  and  the  many 
forms  of  life  which  live  upon  its  surface.  Men  have 
always  been  world  builders,  and  alwaj-s  will  build 
worlds,  and  endeavor  to  account  for  the  various  phe- 
nomina  taking  place  on  every  hand.  And,  if  the 
thought  of  our  age  can  furnish  a  more  reasonable  solu- 
tion for  the  origin  of  things  than  the  thought  which 
produced  the  Genesis  of  the  Bible,  it  is  because  of  the 
expansion  of  intellect  and  development  of  natural 
science,  upon  which  all  forms  of  knowledge  depend. 

The  consideration  of  such  questions  as  "How  did 
this  planet  come  to  be?"  and  "What  is  life?"  and 
"How  did  it  first  appear?"  "How  did  man  originate, 
and  is  he  but  one  of  the  links  in  an  endless  chain  of 
life,  stretching  out  from  the  darkness  and  crudeness  of 
the  past  and  on  to  a  higher  and  a  brighter  home  be- 
the  stars?"  These  are  not  idle  questions,  but  quicken 
the  pulse  of  the  world,  prevent  stagnation,  and  make 
higher  forms  of  truth  possible  to  the  mind. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  history  in  the  world:  Writ- 
ten history  of  men  and  things,  traced  backward,  is 
lost  in  the  mi.sts  and  fogs  of  tradition,  and  of  necessity 


20  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 

full  of  errors.  For  it  is  an  ordinance  of  nature  that 
mankind  should  blunder  while  learning,  and,  best  of 
all,  should  learn  by  his  blunders. 

Then  there  is  a  history  or  divine  revelation  in  nature, 
which  is  not  susceptible  of  counterfeit  or  interpolation, 
and  has  never  been  the  subject  of  translation  or  re- 
vision from  time  to  time  by  designing  creed-makers  in 
religion.  But  is  stamped  upon  and  wrought  into  ever}^- 
thing  nature  has  produced.  In  the  inanimate  as  well 
as  the  living,  the  earth,  with  its  rocks,  mountains  and 
oceans,  all  bear  the  impress  of  natural  divinity  and 
true  history. 

The  pebble  which  rolls  beneath  your  feet  has  its  his- 
tory to  tell  to  the  studious  mind,  but  not  one  word  to 
the  blockhead.  It  says  that  it  was  once  a  part  of  the 
mother  rock  and  detached  by  force,  and  has  reached 
its  rounded,  beauteous  form  through  the  natural 
agencies  of  water  and  motion. 

The  volcano  and  spouting  hot  spring  have  their  tale 
to  tell  of  igneous  action  and  primal  heat  of  mother 
earth.  The  ice  drift,  as  it  has  moved  at  snail  pace 
across  the  continent,  has  written  in  deep  and  corru 
gated  lines  its  history  on  the  granite  rock. 

The  vegetation  which  springs  from  the  earth  in  the 
form  of  flower,  shrub  or  tree.  Animal  life  of  every 
grade,  from  the  insect  which  floats  in  the  sunbeam,  on 
up  to  man  himself,  each  and  all  contain  within  them- 
selves something  of  their  history,  purpose  and  destiny. 
This  history  science  teaches — its  growth  is  slow  but 
sure,  and  so  far  as  it  has  reached  demonstration,  which 
is  absolute  truth — its  page  is  clear;  running  not  back  to 
tradition,  but  to  the  fountain  head  of  life  and  being. 

True  science  then  means  reading  from   the   book   of 


AND  LIUKRAI,  I.KCTl'RKS.  21 

matter  and  mind,  the  long,  slow  process  of  ages,  from 
which  nature  is  developing  from  the  crude  and  low  all 
things  up  to  higher  forms  of  life  and  beauty. 

Saint  Paul  said:  "That  is  first  which  is  natural,  after- 
wards that  which  is  spirirual."  Paul  would  have  been 
better  understood  to-day  if  he  had  said:  That  is  crude 
which  is  first,  afterwards  that  which  is  more  refined. 
His  statement  of  the  natural  and  .spiritual  only  ser\'es 
to  confuse  the  mind,  as  it  seems  to  me  that  a  condition 
called  .spiritual,  must  be  quite  as  natusal  as  any  other 
or  opposite  condition;  for  if  spirituality  means  anything 
more  than  refinement  I  am  not  able  to  see  it. 

Evolution,  as  defined  by  scientists,  is  the  transforma- 
tion ot  the  homogeneous  through  successive  changes  of 
form  and  texture,  and  in  direct  ratio  as  the  fonn 
changes  so  also  does  the  type  and  character  of  the  life 
inhabiting  such  form,  change  and  improve. 

Evolution  implies  that  the  planet  and  its  entire  pro- 
duct of  grass,  grain,  plants,  trees,  and  animals  are  not 
to-day  what  they  were  in  the  far-off  past  ,  but  have 
grown  from  crude,  small  beginnings,  and  that  to-day  is 
a  day  of  creation  as  much  so  as  any  period  of  the  past. 

Evolution  does  not  implj^  Atheism  nor  yet  Material- 
ism in  the  common  acceptance  of  these  terms,  and  is  a 
law  or  sequence.  Many  suppose  that  to  believe  in 
Evolution  is  to  deny  the  existence  of  Deity.  This  is  a 
bug-bear  set  up  by  ignorant  preachers  who  know  more 
of  idle  words  and  church  creeds  than  they  do  about  the 
gospel  of  nature,  and  when  Tyndall,  Huxley  and  Car- 
penter speak  of  the  unthinkable  and  unknowable  they 
call  it  force,  but  when  Christian  .scientists  such  as 
Winchel,  Dana  and  Porter  speak  of  the  same  power 
call  it  God.      I  prefer    the    word    force,  as   words    and 


22  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 

definitions  help  to  keep  the  world  in  bondage  to  relig- 
ious superstitions;  for  men  and  women  are  not  so  likely 
to  go  on  their  knees  when  they  come  to  understand 
that  nothing  can  be  gained  by  praying  to  the  forces 
which  operate  throughout  this  universe  of  law.  Evolu- 
tion is  not  a  force,  but  the  methods  through  which 
nature  works,  and  is  that  orderly  progress  in  nature 
through  which  the  planet  and  its  entire  product  has 
been  developed.  Evolution  is  not  the  why  or  cause  of 
anything,  but  the  how  or  manner  and  order  of  the  un- 
foldment  of  all  life  upon  our  planet,  and  relates  to  the 
growth  of  physical,  mental  and  moral  life  — to  language, 
literature,  society  and  law — to  government,  science  and 
religion,  and  one  can  hardly  imagine  a  study  of  greater 
importance  to  the  well  being  of  our  race. 

The  old  and  scriptural  notion  is  that  the  worid  was 
spoken  into  existence — made  out  of  nothing.  We  are 
not  informed  how  much  nothing  is  required  to  make 
something,  or  whether  there  was  any  of  that  wonderful 
stuff  left  after  the  job  was  completed,  and  with  Inger- 
soll  we  must  say  that  such  a  raw  material  is  by  far  too 
thin  for  human  comprehension. 

Evolution  or  unfoldment  implies  an  eternity  of  time, 
matter  and  space,  and  all  that  we  may  know  of  creation 
is  the  changes  going  on  in  the  material  universe,  show- 
ing an  unfinished  condition  of  all  things. 

Creation  implies  completeness,  something  finished. 
Here  is  a  lamp,  the  creation  of  human  skill,  except  the 
material  from  which  it  was  made,  which  in  some  form 
always  existed.  But  the  lamp  is  a  finished  thing,  it 
can  never  be  larger  or  more  beautiful,  it  is  finished, 
created,  and  can  only  go  back  to  the  primary  elements. 

You  can  see  at  a  glance  that  this  planet  and  its  pro- 


AND   I.  IHJCKAI,   I,i;CTURICS.  23 

duct  was  not  SO  made.  The  best  things  we  know  oi 
are  unfinished;  hardly  wouhl  any  of  this  audience  claim 
to  be  more  than  half  done. 

Kvolution  implies  the  co-existence  of  matter  and 
force,  and  the  co-eternity  of  time  and  space,  and  that 
matter  is  not  dead  as  some  suppose,  and  that  force  and 
motion  are  inherent  in  matter — and  that  force  or  spirit 
vitalizing  matter  has  brought  forth  all  things  from  the 
primary-  crudeness  of  the  past. 

Modern  science  begins  with  the  atom  to  build  a 
world,  an  atom  so  small  as  the  odor  of  the  rose  which 
fills  the  air  with  rich  perfume,  or  the  scent  by  which 
the  dog  follows  his  master  or  game  over  the  bare  rock, 
and  yet  every  atom  contains  the  po.sitive  and  negatiA'e 
force  called  the  polarity  of  the  atom,  and  is  as  complete 
in  its  self  as  this  globe,  which  is  simply  an  aggrega- 
tion of  atoms.  Each  atom  is  true  to  the  law  inherent 
in  itself,  and  is  that  divine  impulse  which  produced  the 
worlds  which  swing  in  space. 

Science  says  the  world  grew,  as  language  and  books 
grew,  from  sounds  to  letters  from  letters  to  words, 
from  words  to  sentences,  from  sentences  to  chapters, 
and  from  chapters  to  books.  So  the  world  grew  In- 
chemical  affinity  or  gravitation  in  the  atom. 

But  what  is  gravitation — no  one  can  tell,  and  I  think 
that  it  is  another  proper  name  for  God.  We  only  know 
how  it  acts.  I  see  its  operation  before  me  now.  There 
are  two  young  people  who  sit  very  close  to  each  other. 
Why  is  it  so?  We  say  the  reason  is  gravitation  or  love 
in  the  atom. 

In  the  gross  material  we  call  that  force  gravitation. 
In  human  social  relations  we  call  it  love — it  is  one  and 
the  same  thing.      Atoms  cling  to   each    other    through 


24  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 

chemical  affinity,  or  the  love  one  atom  has  for  another. 
We  are  composed  of  atoms  caught  upon  the  wheel  of 
life  and  spun  into  human  form,  and,  whether  con- 
stituting the  gases,  rocks,  soil,  flowers,  birds  or  human 
beings,  the  atom  is  true  to  a  changeless  law.  Nature 
is  all  made  out  of  the  same  stuff.  Some  atoms  are  at- 
tracted to  each  other  and  some  repel  each  other,  and 
they  behave  in  the  same  manner  when  they  are  made 
up  into  human  form.  That  is  what  ails  the  boy  and 
girl.  Chemical  magnetic  attraction  or  love  in  the 
atoms  which  draw  them  together. 

The  old  universal  churches  used  to  have  written  in 
large  letters  over  the  pulpit,  "God  is  love."  I  think 
they  are  about  right,  for  it  is  through  this  principle 
that  the  worlds  are  swung  in  space  and  every  aggrega- 
tion of  matter  is  formed. 

By  affinity  in  the  atom  they  were  drawn  together  and 
formed  the  gasses — the  gasses  by  the  same  law  formed 
the  minerals — the  minerals  constitute  the  rocks,  and 
the  rocks  laid  down  form  the  crust  of  our  globe,  and 
this  rock  ground  to  powder  by  the  elements  forms  the 
soil  which  some  people  call  dirt,  our  common  mother, 
from  which  every  living  thing  has  been  developed. 

Science  accounts  for  this  planet  on  the  nebular 
theory — that  once  in  the  far-off  past  all  of  the  matter 
constituting  the  sun  and  planets  of  our  solar  system 
were  gaseous  mist  or  a  sea  of  atoms.  By  chemical  affi- 
nity these  atoms  flowed  to  a  common  center.  By  this 
flow,  motion  was  produced  and  this  great  central  sun 
became  a  rotating,  fiery  mass,  rolling  slowly  from  west 
to  east.  By  cooling  at  the  surface  a  crust  was  formed 
and  contraction  in  size  took  place,  and  thus  increasing 
the  motion  or  momentum.     Bv  the  accelerated  motion 


AM)  IJHICKAL  IJXTURES.  25 

the  plastic  matter  within  tlie  globe  was  heaped  up 
about  the  equator,  producing  a  bulging  at  the  equator 
and  a  corresponding  depression  at  the  poles.  These 
bulging  masses  from  time  to  time  were  separated  from 
the  main  body  and  were  sjnni  into  globes  by  the  same 
law  that  rounds  the  rain  drop  or  tear  falling  from  the 
eye. 

Thus  it  is  said  that  the  planets  of  our  solar  system 
were  born  of  the  sun  and  in  turn  have  become  the 
parents  of  other  heavenly  bodies.  Science  offers  many 
reasons  known  to  the  student  for  the  correctness  of  this 
theory-.  Of  course  we  are  not  absolutely  certain  of  its 
truth,  and  yet  it  accounts  for  these  bodies  in  a  grand 
and  rational  manner,  not  only  possible  but  highly 
probable.  Men  of  brains  will  build  worlds,  and  that 
theory  which  is  the  most  reasonable  and  in  keeping 
with  natural  law  is  far  better  than  a  belief  in  the 
spasmodic  action  of  a  so-called  divine  energ}''  as  set 
forth  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  book.  Thus  science  gives 
us  the  bare  bed-rock  of  the  globe,  which  in  its  apparent 
state  of  perfection  is  the  result  of  the  crudeness  of  the 
past,  refined  and  beautified  by  natural  development 
through  long  ages  and  indefinite  periods  of  time. 

Millions  of  years  no  doubt  were  occupied  in  grinding 
up  the  rocks  into  soil,  and  millions  more  in  which  the 
earth  brought  forth  only  the  lowest  forms  of  vegetation, 
and  the  character  of  what  was  produced  was  the  best 
permissable  under  the  conditions.  Nature  always  does 
her  best,  and  if  you  and  I  can  say  the  same  we  are  on 
the  high  road  to  happiness. 

The  order  of  all  life  on  the  planet  seems  to  have  been 
first  the  simple,  then  the  complex,  then  the  monstrous, 
and  after\vards    the    symmetrical    and    refined.     From 


26  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

feeble  forms  of  vegetation  there  followed  a  monstrous 
growth  of  ferns  sixty  or  seventy  feet  in  height,  thrust 
up  like  magic  during  the  carboniferous  period,  from 
which  our  coal  beds  were  laid  down,  thus  storing  awa}' 
in  the  earth  the  light  and  heat  of  the  sun  in  a  carbon- 
ized form  for  future  use,  and  thus  by  regular  stages 
and  long  periods  of  time  the  earth  was  prepared  for 
animal  life,  the  same  law  holding  good  in  the  animal 
as  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  At  first  low,  crude  forms 
of  animal  life,  and  then  monstrous  forms  appear.  How 
do  we  know  that  this  was  the  order  of  life  and  the 
crust  of  the  earth  was  thus  laid  down?  We  know  it 
by  geological  proofs  and  the  fossil  remains  of  vegeta- 
tion and  animal  life  imbedded  here  and  there  like 
plums  in  an  English  pudding  in  the  crust  of  our  earth. 
Think  3-ou,  did  God  create  this  planet  in  six  days  of 
time,  and  place  these  fossil  remains  in  the  order  in 
which  we|find  them  to  deceive  us,  that  we  might  be- 
lieve a  lie  and  be  damned.  Not  so,  the  light  of  nature 
is  divine. 

Why  did  not  nature,  when  she  essayed  to  make  a 
tree,  bring  forth  at  first  the  majestic  oak  or  lofty  pine, 
the  richly^laden  Iruit  tree  or  crimson  clustered  vine? 
The  best  that  she  could  do  was  to  try  her  hand  at 
feeble  moss  and  ferns.  Wh}^  not  at  first  have  made 
the  animals  symmetrical  and  beautiful  instead  of 
hideous  monster  forms  of  life?  This  is  not  our  busi- 
ness to  enquire  why.  The  question  with  us  is,  what 
were  the  methods  and  order  of  life;  and  we  are  led  to 
suppose  that  things  have  been  what  they  were  and 
what  they  are  to-day  from  necessity,  as  all  things  were 
produced  in  keeping  with  the  conditions  in  ever}' 
period  of  the  earth's  histor}-. 


AM)  Ln!i;kAi.  i.i:cTrKFvS.  27 

How  could  the  earth  hrinj;  forth  first-class  life  of 
tree,  animal,  bird  or  man  enveloped  in  poisonous  gases, 
with  millions  of  volcanoes  pouring  forth  their  deadly 
flood,  rocking  and  reeling  from  eartlujuakes,  shaken 
and  torn  by  the  pent  up  forces  which  were  lifting  the 
crust  of  the  mother  earth  high  up  in  mountain  ranges, 
midst  the  din  and  roar  of  elemental  strife,  and  naught 
but  childish  fancy  could  ask  wh\-  tliat  which  is  last 
could  not  have  been  first,  and  none  could  have  been 
so  simple  but  for  the  foolish  bible  stories  of  the  various 
religions  of  the  world. 

In  due  time  our  race  appeared  as  we  believe  in  the 
regular  order  of  animal  life.  Not  as  Christains  teach, 
complete  in  physical  beauty  and  moral  excellehce,  but 
the  wild  animal  man.  But  for  a  moment  imagine  the 
Ijible  stor}-  to  be  true.  Look  at  xVdam,  what  a  grand 
man,  what  a  broad  head,  what  logic  and  wisdom  were 
wrapped  up  in  that  primeval  man,  and  yet  according 
to  the  stor\-  his  knowledge  was  not  equal  to  the  task 
of  clothing  his  own  nakedness.  Look  at  mother  Eve 
in  all  her  pristine  ]:)eauty.  What  a  form  divine,  what 
a  wealth  of  golden  hair,  what  eyes,  how  they  gleam 
like  stars  ill  the  diadem  of  heaven,  what  a  neck,  like 
alabaster,  what  a  wrist  and  ankle — as  though  turned 
in  a  lathe.  Well,  indeed,  so  she  ought  to  be  complete, 
for  God  had  just  got  her  finished.  And  then  imagine 
how  she  was  made,  and  .see  as  only  a  Christain  can  see 
with  the  eye  of  faith. 

The  great  and  eternal  God  turned  butcher,  standing 
with  the  knife  and  bloody  rib  torn  from  Adam's  side 
in  his  hand,  puzzled,  no  doubt,  as  to  whether  he 
should  make  a  brunette  or  blonde  or  upon  which  end  of 
the  rib  he  should  ]nit  the  head — and  we  drop  the    cur- 


28  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 

tain  upon  this  Christain  tableau  of  superstitious  folly. 
Now  look  at  this  prehistoric  pair  created  perfect  about 
six  thousand  years  ago,  and  then  look  at  their  progeny 
in  all  colors  and  all  conditions — rag,  tag,  fag-end  and 
bob-tail — some  so  low  as  to  live  in  trees  like  apes, 
whose  reason  is  so  dim  that  they  cannot  be  taught 
principles  at  all,  and  by  far  lower  than  the  bug-eating 
Indian  of  California,  and  all  of  this  great  diversity 
brought  about  in  so  short  a  time. 

They  tell  me  that  I  must  believe  this  sill}-  story  or 
be  damned.  Well,  I  think  that  I  would  rather  take 
my  chances  of  salvation  with  Voltaire,  Paine  and 
IngersoU  than  to  submit  to  a  stultification  of  reason 
and  true  manhood.     Such  a  salvation  costs  too   much. 

It  is  far  more  reasonable  to  believe  that  as  the  earth 
has  brought  forth  in  its  various  geographical  portions 
a  wide  diversity  of  flora  and  fauna — plants  and  ani- 
mals— so  also  has  nature  through  evolution  sprouted, 
diferentiated  and  produced  its  wild  man — a  low  type, 
a  mere  animal,  savage,  naked,  and  covered  with  hair, 
without  speech  or  language,  and  no  doubt  long  periods 
of  time  elapsed  in  which  low,  gutteral  sounds  serv^ed 
the  purpose  of  language,  and  then  from  these  grunting 
sounds  the  lowest  type  of  language  appeared,  in  which 
are  found  the  roots  of  all  of  the  languages  of  the  present 
day,  so  perfect  as  compared  with  the  past.  All  of  this 
came  by  slow  degrees,  and  5^et  our  mode  of  expression 
is  not  complete  or  perfect.  As  all  things  else  have 
grown  so  our  language  is  growing,  words  are  constantly 
being  coined,  our  vocabulary  will  never  be  complete, 
and  slang  words  soon  take  their  places  in  the  dictionary 
as  proper  words.  This  must  be  so  as  man  is  a  pro- 
gressive  animal.     Now   with    the   growth   of    reason 


AND  UBKKAI,  I.ICCTrRKS.  29 

comes  also  the  growth  of  ideas;  not  perfect  at  first — 
as  mental  and  physical  life  are  near  neighbors — right 
physical  conditions  preceding  improved  mental  life. 
The  growth  of  ideas,  from  the  crnde  to  the  more  re- 
fined, mnst  have  been  the  work  of  ages.  See  how 
slowly  we  give  up  old  ideas.  Generations  are  re- 
quired for  the  embodiment  of  a  new  idea.  Man  in  the 
childhood  of  our  race  was  governed  by  fear — as  tlie 
hor.se  is  governed  by  whip  and  spur,  and  for  the  same 
reason  ignorance,  fear  and  faith  being  twins,  religion 
is  as  old  as  man.  What  governed  man  at  first?  Not 
God  or  Devil,  but  the  laws  of  nature,  just  what  should 
govern  him  now.  Fear  was  the  prime  factor  in  the 
government  of  prehistoric  man.  Some  of  the  forces  of 
nature  seemed  evil,  the  sun  burned  them,  the  cold 
froze  them,  disease  killed  them.  While  on  the  other 
hand  the  genial  forces  blessed  them  with  life  and  plenty 
— to  one  they  .sacrificed  as  to  the  good  God,  and  to  the 
other  as  the  bad  God.  Here,  then,  we  find  the  root  of 
the  God  and  Devil  idea  which  forms  the  staple  of  all 
religious  worship. 

Then  came  vague  theories  about  God;  then  a  faint 
idea  of  responsibility  to  a  higher  power.  How  did 
these  early  people  know  right  from  wrong?  They 
learned  it  as  most  of  us  have  done — they  did  both  and 
felt  the  consequences,  and  thus  .struck  the  balance  be- 
tween right  and  wrong.  Some  people  talk  as  if  man- 
kind did  not  know  evil  from  good  until  Sinai  burned 
and  smoked  and  Moses  received  the  law.  I  tell  you 
not  so.  Before  Moses,  books,  or  written  law,  man  ex- 
isted, and  every  human  soul  in  all  the  past  has  been  a 
Mount  Sinai  upon  whose  con.scious  reason  has  beat  and 
throbbed  the  forces  of  nature,  and  every  force  of  nature 


30  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

has  been  a  commandment  to  men,  and  there  has  been 
no  guiding  power  for  man  superior  to  or  above  nature. 

One  would  suppose  that  if  there  existed  an  infiniteh- 
wise  and  good  God  that  he  would  have  had  a  care  for 
the  weak  and  ignorant  children  of  his  love. 

The  bright  red  and  luscious  appearing  berries  wdiich 
grew  in  the  early  time  had  to  be  eaten  by  somebody  to 
test  their  deadly  nature.  Somebody  had  to  suffer. 
Think  you  that  when  God  made  the  deadly  snake  he 
tied  a  flag  to  its  tail  to  warn  men  of  the  fatal  bite. 
No,  no;  some  poor  soul  had  to  suffer  to  gain  that 
knowledge.  Thus  has  it  ever  been,  knowledge  and 
moral  life  has  grown  in  our  race  from  the  cruel  grips 
and  peltings  of  natural  law.  At  first  there  could  have 
been  onh'  the  most  horrid  religions.  Want  of  lan- 
guage led  to  .symbolism;  a  long  and  careless  use  of 
symbols  led  to  fetishism  and  a  multitude  of  charms, 
idols  and  gods  .settled  down  upon  the  people  like  a 
horrid  nightmare.  And  we  are  living  yet  amid  the 
fragments  of  pagan  rites — on  every  hand,  dark  and 
dismal  errors  linger  near  us,  and  in  man}'  a  nook  of 
our  minds  time-honored  superstitions  still  robs  our 
reason  of  its  manhood.  This  outlook  helps  us  to  see 
that  we  are  the  result  of  the  crudeness  of  the  past  and 
thus  finding  our  true  place  in  nature  we  will  respect 
the  poor,  low  and  mean  in  the  scale  of  life  below  us, 
and  even  the  whole  animal  kingdom  may  be  consid- 
ered our  poor  relations,  and  like  milestones  they  mark 
the  road  over  which  we  have  traveled. 

I  kno^\-  there  are  many  who  scout  at  the  idea  of  an 
animal  origin  for  man.  All  mvist  admit  that  he  is  an 
animal  to-da}',  and  the  chances  are  that  he  was  never 
an  angel;  and  I  am  sure  that  Darwin's  theorv  of  man's 


AND  umcKAi,  i,i;cTuki:s.  .•^i 

origin  is  far  more  reasonable  than  lliat  a  God  made  a 
man  of  clay  and  then  blew  in  his  nose  the  breath  of 
life,  and  having  thns  made  an  angel,  through  the  ser- 
vice of  the  woman  and  that  wonderful  snake,  he  has 
been  going  to  the  Devil  ever  since. 

We  are  asked:  But  is  Darwini.sm  correct,  and  did 
man  come  from  the  monkey,  and  if  so,  why  don't  we 
see  monkeys  turning  into  men  to-day.  Well,  we  know 
of  many  men,  and  women  too,  who  are  more  than  half 
horse,  dog  and  monkey  to-day,  and  hence  I  strongly 
su.spect  that  we  are  of  the  earth  earthy  and  must  own 
our  kinship  to  all  of  the  life  which  preceded  us.  But 
there  is  a  word  of  comfort  to  the  human  being  who  is 
lower  in  his  impulses  and  habits  than  the  brute  crea- 
ture. It  is  this:  it  took  nature  a  long  time  to  bring 
man  where  he  is  to-day,  and  she  has  all  time  to  perfect 
her  work,  of  working  out  the  animal  and  working  in 
the  angel,  and  thus  evolution  is  a  gospel  of  hope  to 
this  world  becau.se  it  reverses  the  old  theory  and  places 
angelhood  at  the  end  and  not  at  the  beginning  of  the 
race.  Be  patient,  your  time  will  come  yet,  and  if  we 
are  not  able  to  find  the  mi.ssing  link  or  .see  monkeys 
turning  into  men,  it  is  becau.se  as,  science  says,  "Life 
is  an  ascending  series  of  steps,  far  apart." 

Ages  were  occupied  in  thebranchingoff  or  differenti- 
ating of  the  various  forms  of  life.  Generations  cannot 
mark  the  steps,  so  slow  has  been  the  proces.ses  of  evolu- 
tion. Ages  are  between  the  steps,  hence  ages  are  re- 
quired to  make  a  result,  besides  the  stages  or  steps  of 
life  are  blended  together  or  into  each  other,  and  yet 
enough  facts  are  known  relating  to  the  enfoldment  of 
life  to  make  the  theory  highly  probable  that  all  knowl- 
edge grew  from  small  beginnings  and  that   experience 


32  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

and  the  law  of  necessity  has  pushed  our  race  forward 
to  its  present  attainment,  opening  the  door  from  the 
age  of  helplessness  to  the  ages  of  wood,  stone,  bronze, 
iron,  silver  and  gold,  while  suffering,  sorrow,  pain  and 
death  has  followed  close  beside  man's  pathway  all 
along  the  line  of  life. 

We  have  heard  a  great  deal  said  about  the  goodness 
of  God  in  saving  the  world.  From  what  and  to  what 
has  it  been  saved.  To  my  mind  human  suffering  ha.^ 
been  the  savior  of  our  race.  It  is  almost  idle  to  ask 
why  did  not  that  infinitely  wise  and  good  God  long 
ages  ago  give  us  the  steam  engine,  steel  plow  and  the 
sewing  machine  to  save  the  poor  backs  and  sides  which 
ached.  He  did  not  seem  to  mind  our  woes  but  let  the 
man  plow  on  with  his  wooden  plow,  and  the  woman 
suffer  on  with  her  aching  back,  and  never  once  thought 
to  send  her  a  cooking  stove  or  a  sewing  machine. 

But  then  God  is  so  good  you  know.  God  the  father, 
son  and  ghost,  might  have  given  the  world  ages  ago 
the  steamship  and  steam  power  to  open  commerce,  turn 
the  wheels  of  industry  and  civilize  the  world,  but  the 
nearest  approach  to  the  steamboat  and  clipper  ship  was 
the  dug-out,  and  that  he  permitted  him  to  dig  out  for 
himself  while  God  looked  on  and  did  not  even  furnish 
a  saw  with  which  to  cut  the  log  and  fire  was  used  in- 
stead, and  then  he  had  to  make  his  own  fire  by  rubbing 
two  pieces  of  wood  together.  But  while  he  worked 
and  suffered  his  skull  grew  and  his  intellect  expanded 
until  inventive  genius  was  born,  which  has  scattered 
blessings  in  his  path. 

But  then  God  is  so  good  to  save  us  after  we  are  dead, 
.in  another  world.  But  I  should  think  more  favorably 
of  the  Christian  God  if  he  had    lifted    the    burdens    of 


AND  IJUKRAI,  I.ICCTURFS.  33 

our  racL-  in  lliis  world  and  let  the  other  world  take  care 
of  itself.  In  conclusion,  let  me  say  that  evolution  is 
nature's  plan  of  salvation  and  tells  of  better  conditions 
on  the  way  to  save  man  from  animalism  and  lift  him 
into  the  sunlight  ot  a  full  rounded  manhood. 


34  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 


MY   RELIGIOH 


That  friendship  is  the  deepest 

Which  counts  its  years  in  growth, 

That  knowledge  is  most  precious 
Which  hath  cost  me  most. 

That  goodness  is  most  worthy 
Which,  like  the  light  of  heaven, 

Seeks  out  the  poor  and  fallen. 
And  visits  those  in  prison. 

That  love  is  best  and  sweetest 
Which  .seeks  another's  gain, 

That  charity  the  broadest 

Which  hides  a  brother's  stain. 

That  faith  is  best  and  truest 

Which  is  world-wide  in  its  span. 

That  church  and  creed  the  highest 
Which  brings  most  good  to  man. 

That  hope  is  best  for  me 

Which  mo.st  inspires  my  life, 

That  reaches  out  beyond  the  grave 
And  saves  from  earthly  strife. 


AND  LIRKKAK  LKCTURKS.  35 

That  world  is  best  just  now 

Which  offers  most  of  duty, 
That  soul  feels  most  of  heaven 

Who  drinks  in  most  of  1)eauty. 

That  truth  is  best  and  highest 

Which  helps  me  on  my  way, 
That  lifts  the  soul  from  darkness 

And  points  to  endless  day. 

That  heaven  is  best  for  me 

That  brings  me  to  m\-  own, 
Where  dear  and  loved  ones  gone  before 

Will  greet  us  welcome  home. 

A  Heaven  of  higher  life  and  love 

Which  knows  no  sect  or  clan, 
But  opens  wide  the  Heavenly  gate 

To  the  divine  in  man. 

All  are  the  children  of  the  Father, 

Sparks  from  that  central  sun, 
Not  a  soul,  though  feeble  in  goodness 

Can  be  lost  to  the  Infinite  One. 


FREE  THOUGHT  POEMS 


BACKBOME. 


When  5'ou  see  a  fellow  mortal 
Without  fixed  and  fearless  views, 
Hanging  on  the  skirts  of  others, 
Walking  in  their  cast-off  shoes, 
Bowing  low  to  wealth  and  favor, 
With  abject,  uncovered  head. 
Ready  to  retract  and  waver, 
Willing  to  be  drove  and  led; 
Walk  yourself  with  firmer  bearing, 
Throw  your  moral  shoulders  back, 
Show  your  spine  has  nerv^e  and  marrow 
Just  the  things  which  his  most  lack. 

A  stronger  word 
Was  never  heard 
In  sense  and  tone 
Than  this — backbone. 

When  you  see  a  theologian 
Hugging  close  some  ugly  creed, 
Fearing  to  reject  or  question 
Dogmas  which  his  priest  may  read; 
Holding  back  all  noble  feeling, 
Choking  down  each  manly  view, 
Caring  more  for  forms  and  symbols 


AND  Min:KAI.  LECTURES.  37 

Than  to  know  the  good  and  true; 
Walk  3'ourself  with  firmer  bearing, 
Throw  your  moral  shoulders  back ; 
Show  your  spine  has  ner\-e  and  marrow  — 
Just  the  things  which  his  most  lack. 

A  stronger  word 
Was  never  heard 
In  sense  and  tone 
Than  this — backbone. 

When  you  see  a  politician 
Crawling  through  contracted  holes. 
Begging  for  some  fat  position, 
In  the  ring  or  at  the  poles; 
With  no  sterling  manhood  in  him. 
Nothing  stable,  broad  or  sound. 
Destitute  of  pluck  or  ballast. 
Double-sided  all  around; 
Walk  3'ourself  with  firmer  bearing, 
Throw  your  moral  shoulders  back, 
Show  yQur  spine  has  ner\-e  and  marrow — 
Just  the  things  which  his  mo.st  lack. 

A  stronger  word 
Was  never  heard 
In  sense  or  tone 
Than  this — backbone. 

A  modest  song  and  plainly  told — 
The  text  is  worth  a  mine  of  gold. 
For  many  men  most  sadly  lack 
A  noble  stiffness  in  the  back. 


FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 


BE  THYSELF. 

Be  thyself;  a  nobler  gospel 

Never  preached  the  Nazarene; 

Be  thyself;  'tis  Holy  Scripture, 
Though  no  Bible  lids  between. 

Dare  to  shape  the  thought  in  language 

That  is  lying  in  thy  brain; 
Dare  to  launch  it,  banners  flying, 

On  the  bosom  of  the  main. 

What,  though  pirate  knaves  surround  thee, 

Nail  thy  colors  to  the  mast; 
Flinch  not,  flee  not — boldly  sailing. 

Thou  shalt  gain  the  port  at  last. 

Be  no  parrot,  idly  prating. 

Thoughts  the  spirit  never  knew; 

Be  a  prophet  of  the  God-sent, 
Telling  all  thy  message  true. 

Then  the  coward  world  will  scorn  thee: 
Friends  may  fail  and  fiends  may  fi;own; 

Heaven  itself  grow  dark  above  thee, 
Gods  in  anger  thence  look  down. 


AND  I.IBlvkAI,  UX'TURKS.  39 

Heed  not;  there's  a  world  more  ])()tcnt 

Carried  in  th}-  manly  heart; 
Be  thyself,  and  do  thy  dnty, 

It  will  alwa^'s  take  thy  part. 

If  the  God  within  says  "Well  done," 

What  are  other  Gods  to  thee? 
Hell's  his  frown,  1)Ut  where  his  smile  is. 

There  is  Heaven  for  the  free.    - 


«<'K 


EVOLJTION. 


This  world  of  nature  and  of  force, 

In  Nature's  book  eternal  and  sublime. 

The  records  of  our  planet's  growth. 
With  all  its  forms  divine. 

And  >'et.  in  past  'twas  countetl  sin 

To  read  its  pages  clear; 
By  priest  and  saint  it  was  ignored 

Through  ignorance  and  fear. 

Evolution  is  the  unfoldment  of  life. 

And  tells  of  growth  by  gravitation; 
Unfolded  from  early  conditions. 

Not  made  as  declared  bv  divine  revelation. 


40  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

It  relates  to  all  things  in  existence; 

The  earth  and  product  of  every  kind; 
Of  life  and  being  great  and  small 

In  the  world  of  matter  and  of  mind. 

At  first  a  sea  of  atoms  vast, 

And  then  a  central  sun, 
From  which  the  planets  have  been  born, 

And  in  their  orbits  spun. 

As  our  solar  S}-stems  thus  were  born 
So  other  s^-stems  found  their  place; 

B}'  Nature's  law  in  matter  found 
Throughout  a  universe  of  space. 

No  word  or  sound  or  voice  profound 

Was  heard  to  speak  in  all  this  realm  of  .space; 

Only  the  silent  work  of  Nature's  law 
Brought  worlds  and  being  into  place. 

Millions  of  years  both  fire  and  flood, 

With  chemic  action  wrought  in  this  great  plan. 

To  lay  foundations  broad  and  deep, , 
And  build  this  home  for  man. 

Not  onl}^  did  the  elements  conspire, 
And  with  new  forms  of  being  blend. 

But  sentient  life  joined  in  the  plan 
Of  Nature's  work  a  hand  to  lend. 

Thus  all  forms  of  life  were  born 

From  Nature's  vital  force; 
In  man}'  moulds  its  essence  fell 

As  life  pursued  its  course. 


AND  I,II5KKAI.  LKCTl'RES.  41 

Still  on,  yet  on  life's  current  llowed. 
And  left  its  trace  in  channels  as  it  ran; 

In  plant  and  tree,  in  fish  and  bird  and  beast. 
But  found  its  highest  type  in  man. 

The  niarjtrdom  of  man 

Is  Nature's  broad  highway 
Through  which  the  race  is  trav'ling  up 

To  wisdom's  endless  day. 

So  evolution  tells  the  stor}- 

How  all  things  have  come  to  be 
In  this  universe  of  law, 

On  earth,  in  air  and  sea. 

And  of  all  the  plans  to  save  the  soul 

In  sacred  books  by  revelation, 
There's  none  so  clear  as  Nature  gives 

In  her  srreat  book  of  evolution. 


42        .  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


INFIDELITY-OUR    RELIGIOK. 


-THE- 


no^E   o^   THE   t7;7-o]rxj:d. 


What  one  believes  may  be  termed  his  religion,  and 
what  one  absolutely  knows  must  be  science,  and  to  the 
thinking  mind  the  realm  of  belief  grows  less  as  knowl- 
edge increases.  What  I  thought  I  knew  when  I  was  a 
shouting  Methodist  is  not  now  even  a  belief,  and  what 
I  believed  then  has  faded  clean  out.  About  God  I 
know  nothing,  and  where  there  are  no  facts  there  ought 
to  be  no  belief,  hence  about  God  I  believe  nothing. 
About  the  future  state  of  being  I  have  no  absolute 
knowledge,  but  from  convictions  forced  upon  me  b}' the 
phenomena  I  have  witnessed  in  my  own  family  and 
elsewhere  pointing  in  that  direction,  I  am  compelled 
to  believe  in  conscious  existence  after  death.  But  as 
my  Methodism  took  wings  and  flew  away,  so  also  may 
this  belief  give  way  before  a  wider  knowledge,  but  I 
hope  not,  as  the  hope  which  this  belief  inspires  is  be- 
yond price. 


AND  i.iHKKAi,  i.i-;cTrKi-:s.  43 

Faith  ill  the  truthi'uhies.s  of  the  Bible  as  evidence 
made  ine  a  Methodist,  so  also  faith  in  the  import  of 
mental  and  physical  phenomena  makes  me  a  believer 
in  continued  life.  Destroy  my  faith  in  what  stands  for 
evidence  to-da\-  and  I  am  simply  an  Infidel  or  unbe- 
liever. Some  liberals  run  from  this  word  as  they 
would  from  a  mad  bull,  but  to  me  the  word  infidel  has 
a  significance  of  which  no  true  man  or  woman  need  be 
ashamed.  We  are  told  b}-  some  that  liberalism  or  in- 
fidelit}-  is  a  bundle  of  negations,  and  that  Infidels 
don't  believe  anything,  teach  anything,  or  Imild  any- 
thing, and  all  their  efforts  tend  to  destro}'  and  leave 
everything  in  ruins. 

Xow  this  is  a  great  mistake  made  by  ignorant  and 
prejudiced  people.  It  is  not  true  that  lil^eralism  or 
infidelity  don't  teach  anything,  and  for  ever\'  old  and 
decayed  plank  in  the  creeds  which  she  destroys  .she 
puts  a  better  one  in  its  place,  and  as  a  mighty  builder 
has  a  positive  side.  In  place  of  fable  and  fiction  she 
gives  facts;  in  place  of  supernaturalism  she  gives  us 
natural  religion  backed  up  b}-  every  natural  science: 
in  place  of  creation  in  six  periods  of  time  she  gives  the 
evolution  of  all  things  in  an  eternity  of  time,  and 
teaches  that  this  world  of  matter  and  mind  is  governed 
by  eternal  and  inexecrable  law  and  that  unfoldment 
and  progression  is  the  law  of  the  universe.  I.,iberalism 
teaches  universal  salvation  in  the  individual  through 
natural  development — a  .self  salvation  which  holds 
good  in  this  world  or  any  other,  and  that  nature  is 
complete  in  herself  to  do  all  things,  and  that  this 
world  is  running  on,  not  under  the  blasting  mildew  of 
a  curse,  but  under  the  blessing  of  heaven.  Liberalism 
and  infidelit}'  teaches  that    true    religion    is   goodne.ss. 


44  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

and  is  not  Hebrew  or  Christian,  but  is  as  natural  to 
man  as  mechanism,  music,  or  anything  else  to  which 
nature  has  adapted  him  to  attain;  not  based  upon  be- 
lief but  inherent  in  the  nature  of  things,  and  a  more 
rational  and  glorious  doctrine  has  never  been  taught  to 
man  than  the  doctrine  that  man's  intellectual  and 
moral  nature  as  certainly  unfolds  under  natural  law  as 
does  the  fragrant  flower  or  field  of  grain. 

I  have  had  many  good  and  well  meaning  people  tell 
me  that  if  they  believed  as  I  do  they  would  not  stop  at 
any  degree  of  crime.  Such  people  seem  to  be  ignorant 
of  the  fact  that  all  the  truth  and  moral  life  the  world 
has  ever  received  has  come  from  nature,  and  that  natu- 
ral religion  teaches  human  moral  responsibility;  that 
whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap;  if  he 
sow  to  the  wind  he  shall  reap  the  whirlwind;  if  he  sow 
to  the  flesh  he  shall  reap  animalism  and  corruption, 
and  that  pain  or  punishment  in  the  economy  of  nature 
is  for  the  purpose  of  reform ;  and  to-day  infidelity,  to 
the  thinking  mind,  furnishes  a  thousand  fold  stronger 
motives  to  be  good,  to  do  good,  to  buy  the  truth  and 
sell  it  not,  than  all  other  religions  upon  the  earth,  for 
while  the  motives  of  eternal  hell  and  eternal  glory  are 
fast  fading  out,  natural  law  remains  the  same  and  for- 
ever teaches  us  that  true  religion  is  not  an  effort  on 
God's  part  to  save  man,  as  all  efforts  imply  failure  and 
are  human,  but  an  effort  on  man's  part  to  bring  him- 
self into  harmony  with  nature,  of  which  he  is  a  part. 
Harmony  is  heaven  in  this  world,  or  any  other. 

Now  I  know  that  infidelity  don't  teach  much  about 
God,  heaven,  hell,  or  angels.  Well,  it  don't  know 
much  about  what  will  happen  in  another  life,  and, 
as  for  deity,  it  is  unthinkable  to    an  intelligent  mind. 


ANij  i.nu-;KAi.  i,i:c'nRi:s.  45 

ami  to  say  the  least  it  can  afford  to  be  modest  and  not 
cinarrel  with  any  one  about  things  of  which  we  can 
know  so  little,  and  with  a  kindly  spirit  for  all,  leaving 
many  questions  open,  and  yet  rest  securely  in  the  sov- 
ereignit_\'  of  natural  law. 

It  is  true  that  infidelity  don't  build  churches  and 
lay  upon  human  hearts  the  liurdens  of  religious  wor- 
ship, as  she  has  no  use  for  churches,  and  honestly  be- 
lieves that  every  church  spire  pointing  to  the  sky  is  a 
remnant  of  paganism  and  emblem  of  superstition. 
Rather  let  us  build  school  houses  and  teach  natural 
science  to  the  children,  their  relation  to  nature  and  to 
each  other;  and  it  will  be  a  glad  day  to  this  world 
when  the  priest  shall  fall  to  the  rear  and  the  school 
master  come  to  the  front,  and  the  church  give  way  to 
the  college  of  learning,  and  the  temple  of  science  lift 
her  smiling  face  above  the  clouds  of  bigotry  and  relig- 
ious fanaticism. 

For  centuries  the  word  infidel  has  been  used  as  an 
epithet  to  stigmatize  those  who  dare  step  aside  from 
time-worn  paths  of  religious  thought  with  some  such 
significance  as  the  words:  mad  dog,  small  pox,  or  yel- 
low fever,  and  from  early  boyhood  I  was  taught  to  re- 
gard Infidels  as  bad  people — not  that  they  did  not  pay 
their  debts  as  well  as  other  people,  nor  because  they 
were  not  as  good  husbands,  wives,  sons  and  daughters 
as  those  of  the  Christain  faith,  but  l)ecause  they  did 
not  l)elieve  what  I  was  taught  to  believe  about  God 
and  the  devil.  And  not  until  late  in  life  did  I  discover 
the  fallacy  of  measuring  human  character  by  the 
standard  ot  any  religious  l)elief,  as  goodness  or  bad- 
ness does  not  consist  in  what  men  believe  about  God 
or  heaven,  l)ut  in  what  ihev  are  and  what  they  do.    for 


46  FKKE  THOUGHT    POEMS 

there  are  plentj^  of  people  who  believe  the  entire 
schedule  of  religious  clap- trap  and  are  chuck  full  of 
religion,  and  yet  to  their  families  are  as  mean  as  dirt, 
devoid  of  honesty  and  true  manhood.  There  is  not  a 
religion  on  earth  which  does  not  hold  all  to  be  infidels 
who  do  not  embrace  their  faith,  see  the  truth  as  they 
see  it,  and  worship  God  in  the  same  way  they  worship 
him.  The  Protestants  are  infidels  to  the  Catholics, 
and  both  are  infidels  to  the  Jews.  This  is  infidelity 
the  world  over,  and  from  the  beginning  of  the  Chris- 
tian era  every  effort  has  been  made  by  the  Christian 
Church  to  force  all  people  to  believe  the  same  things 
about  God  and  salvation.  No  doubt  this  effort  grew 
out  of  an  honest  belief  that  God  wrote  the  Bible,  and 
in  that  book  commanded  that  all  should  believe  certain 
things  or  be  damned.  But  honesty  and  sincerity  with- 
out reason  has  filled  this  world  with  cruelty  and  blood. 
Hence  unbelief  or  infidelity,  which  is  simply  a  struggle 
for  mental  freedom,  has  grown  up  as  the  result  of 
religious  evolution. 

In  every  period  of  the  world's  history  a  few  brave 
men  have  spoken  their  honest  convictions,  and  for  the 
extermination  of  these  men  the  church  has  u.sed  the 
utmost  limit  of  her  power.  She  has  sown  the  seeds  of 
contention  and  bitterness  everywhere  and  among  all 
peoples,  and  the  sacred  ties  of  family  and  kinship  have 
given  way  before  the  flood  tides  of  religious  deviltrj-. 
Fire  and  sword  has  reaped  the  harvest  of  innocence 
whose  only  crime  was  honest  unbelief,  and  the  cruel 
waves  of  red-handed  war  like  a  rising  tide  has  swept 
over  the  world  in  the  name  of  religion,  and  ever  has 
floated  the  bloody  banner  of  Jesus  Chri.st. 

Religion,  like  everythingel.se,  is  the  subject  of  e vol u- 


AXI)   I.IHKKAI,  MvCTUKKS.  47 

tion.  Change  and  progress  is  the  hiw  of  the  universe. 
The  philosophy  and  science  of  five  thousand  years  ago 
does  not  contain  the  sum  total  of  knowledge  to-day. 
No,  the  world  moves,  and  men  are  everywhere,  Samp- 
son-like, feeling  after  the  pillars  of  fraud,  sham  and 
superstition,  and  this  effort  to  know  the  truth  is  called 
lieres}-  and  infidelity. 

The  religions  of  the  past  have  been  the  clothing  of 
the  childhood  of  our  race,  and  adapted  to  the  people 
who  originated  them — the  ej'esight  of  an  age  when  the 
eye  was  dim.  The  creeds  of  the  world  have  been  the 
crutches  on  which  the  race  have  hobbled  in  their  ignor- 
ance and  superstition.  But  it  does  not  follow  that 
men  and  women  need  always  to  wear  goggles  or  walk 
on  crutches.  So  far  as  we  may  know,  the  religions  of 
the  world  have  grown  from  one  parent  stalk,  as  by  his- 
tory we  find  that  ancient  India  is  the  birth-place  and 
mother  of  the  religions,  morals,  language  and  litera- 
ture of  the  world,  and  our  best  scholars  inform  us  that 
this  early  religion  inspired  the  Kjyptian,  Hebrew, 
Greek  and  Roman  civilization,  and  stii!  pervades  the 
economy  of  our  laws  and  usage  to-day.  Cousin  says 
that  the  history  of  this  early  Hindu  religion  is  the 
abridged  histor}-  of  the  philosophy  of  the  whole  world, 
and  thus  did  the  wise  men  of  India  precede  the  wisdom 
of  Mo.ses  of  the  Jews  and  give  her  laws,  religion  and 
customs  to  Egypt,  Persia,  Greece  and  Rome.  Thus  it 
happens  that  the  story  of  Chrisna  precedes  the  story 
of  Christ,  and  the  silly  story  of  the  virgin  mother  in 
the  Bramin  religion  is  many  centuries  older  than  the 
story  of  the  virgin  mother  ot  Bethlehem. 

We  see  then  that  the  infidelity  of  our  age  consists  in 
not  believing  that   Jesus    of  Xa/.areth    was    the    only 


48  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 

crucified  savior  of  men.  How  could  that  which  was 
written  first  been  copied  from  that  which  was  written 
last.  If  I  could  say  that  Brahminism  and  Buddhism 
were  copied  from  Christianity,  and  that  the  beautiful 
vedas  and  scriptures  of  the  Hindus  were  copied  from 
the  Hebrew,  and  that  all  of  the  moral  life  of  the  world 
had  eminated  from  Christianity,  I  could  be  a  Chris- 
tian instead  of  an  Infidel,  but  in  the  light  of  history  I 
can't  say  this,  hence  I  am  compelled  to  take  the  place 
and  name  of  Infidel. 

To  my  mind  infidelity  is  an  inspiration.  All  in- 
spiration is  an  inbreathing  from  the  infinite  univer.se, 
and  has  not  been  confined  to  any  country  or  people, 
and  the  infidelity  of  the  world  is  the  result  of  inspira- 
tion quite  as  much  as  the  religious  thought  of  the 
world.  From  the  dust  covered  centuries  of  the 
twilight  ages,  from  the  niart3^red  dead  of  the  far-off 
past  among  all  peoples,  inspired  thoughts  like  shocks 
from  the  battery  of  truth  have  blessed  humanity  and 
stirred  the  pulse  of  the  world.  From  the  dim  distance 
of  more  than  five  thousand  years  ago  comes  the  voice 
of  the  Hi n-^.u  law-giver  and  prototype  of  Moses,  and 
from  Buddha,  the  divine  man  and  prototype  of  Jesus — 
quite  as  moral  and  divine  as  anj'thing  found  in  the 
Bible  of  the  Jews. 

More  than  twenty-five  centuries  ago  from  Zoroaster, 
Pythagoras  and  Confucius,  has  poured  forth  a  stream 
of  inspiration,  which  in  point  of  wisdom  and  moral 
beauty  is  at  least  equal  to  anything  in  the  four  go.spels 
attributed  to  Jesus,  the  modern  savior  man.  More 
than  two  thousand  years  ago  from  Socrates,  Plato, 
Aristotle  and  lyucretius,  and  on  down  to  Apilonius  and 
Jesus,  there  has  been  a  constant  stream  of  knowledge. 


AND  liiu;kai.  i,j;cTrKi:s.  49 

moral  life  and  goodness  shed  forth  lo  enlighten  the 
world,  and  there  has  been  no  age  destitute  of  inspired 
men  in  science,  morals  and  religion. 

Let  me  give  a  few  brief  quotations  from  Buddha,  who. 
as  a  moral  teacher,  has  no  superior  among  men: 

"A  man  who  does  me  wrong  I  will  return  to  him  the 
protection  of  my  love;  the  more  evil  that  goes  from 
him  the  more  good  .shall  go  from  me." 

"L,et  a  man  overcome  anger  with  love,  evil  by  good, 
the  liar  by  truth." 

"The  evil  doer  mourns  in  this  world  and  lie  shall 
mourn  in  the  next." 

"He  who  casts  aside  his  appetites,  who  keeps  armed 
with  the  virtue  and  endowed  with  temperance  and 
integrity,  he  indeed  is  worthy  of  the  yellow  garment." 

"Forsake  all  evil,  bring  forth  good;  master  thy  pas- 
sions and  thoughts."  vSuch  is  Buddha's  faith  to  the 
end  of  all  pain. 

What  did  Jesus  or  his  apostles  ever  say  that  excels 
these  passages,  and  yet  we  are  asked  to  shut  our  eyes 
to  the  claims  of  other  saviors  and  thus  rob  others  of 
justice  that  Jesus  may  be  crowned  lord  of  all.  To  be 
an  Infidel  is  to  regard  Jesus  as  a  reflector  of  borrowed 
light  and  a  reflex  of  the  inspiration  of  his  day. 

Infidelity  is  as  old  as  man,  for  as  long  as  men  have 
worshiped  Gods  so  long  has  there  been  people  who  did 
not  believe  in  Gods,  and  were  the  Infidels  of  ancient 
times.  The  old  Greek  poet.  Diagoras,  who  lived 
twenty-three  hundred  years  ago,  was  an  Infidel.  He 
said  that  his  Gods  were  the  atoms  and  that  he  would 
sooner  worship  no  Gods  and  believe  in  none,  than  to 
worship  Gods  who  tolerated  cruelty  and  wickedness  or 
were  powerless  to  prevent  it.     Religious  people   put   a 


50  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

price  upon  his  head  and  he  had  to  flee  to  save  his  life. 
This  was  ancient  infidelity,  and  this  is  the  doctrine  of 
Tyndall  and  the  leading  scientists  of  our  day,  that  the 
atom,  and  the  law  inherent  in  it,  stands  between  us 
and  a  supposed  God.  And  like  Diagoras  of  old  we 
can't  get  behind  the  atom  to  .see  whether  there  be  a 
God  or  not. 

There  may  be  a  thousand  Gods  for  aught  we  know 
instead  of  three.  But  if  there  is  they  are  figments  of 
the  imagination,  and  powerless  to  help  or  harm  us. 
Don't  talk  to  me  about  a  good  and  overruling  provi- 
dence who  created  nature — a  machine — and  then  can't 
control  its  forces  to  save  innocent  life  from  wholesale 
death  b}-  fire,  water,  earthquakes,  tornadoes,  and  other 
fearful  calamities  which  fill  whole  countries  with  agony 
and  death  in  its  most  frightful  forms.  And  above  all 
don't  ask  me  to  bend  the  knee  in  worship  of  such  an 
infinite  monster  of  cruelt}-.  To  say  that  God  in  his 
mercy  sees  fit  to  make  such  use  of  infinite  power,  is  to 
insult  reason  and  common  sense. 

This  is  infidelity,  but  let  me  follow  where  reason 
leads — ^to  do  less  i.s  fdiocy  and  mental  death — and  I 
am  sure  we  will  not  be  ashamed  of  the  company'  we 
are  keeping.  I  am  glad  to  join  hands  in  spirit  to- 
night with  the  Infidels  of  the  past  who  have  made  it 
possible  for  us  to  be  free.  I  love  to  think  of  old 
Socrates,  that  grand  old  deist  who  held  such  an  ex- 
alted belief  and  led  such  a  pure  life  when  the  world 
was  cursed  and  polluted  with  false  religion.  Who 
can  but  admire  the  life  of  Mahomet,  fighting  for  the 
doctrine  of  one  God— no  more.  A  brighter  light  has 
no  one  shed  on  the  darkness  of  his  age;  or  Canipanella, 
who  was  kept  in  prison  twenty-seven  years  and  put   to 


AND  ijiuvRAi.  i.i;cTrRi:s.  51 

the  torture  seven  times  for  the  sake  of  science:  or 
Vanini,  who  had  his  tongue  torn  out,  and  was  burned 
by  followers  of  Jesus — who  said,  love  one  another;  or 
poor  old  Roger  Bacon,  who  laid  in  prison  ten  years 
that  our  children  might  have  text  books  in  the  schools. 

And  not  only  have  brave  men  stood  up  for  truth, 
but  the  page  of  history  gleams  like  a  diamond's  light 
with  the  name  of  Hypatia,  that  mistress  of  logic, 
eloquence  and  philosophy,  who  was  torn  from  her 
carriage  and  butchered  in  cold  blood  by  Christian 
monks  and  yielded  up  her  sweet  life  as  one  of  the 
fruits  of  Paul's  doctrine — let  a  woman  keep  silence. 
I  should  be  ungrateful  to  men  who  died  for  me  should 
I  pass  over  in  silence  the  names  of  Bruno  and  Ser\'etus, 
whose  ghosts  should  haunt  the  Church  of  Christ  to 
her  dying  da}-;  and  it  makes  the  hot  blood  of  indigna- 
tion come  and  go  when  I  think  how  the  lives  of  these 
grand  men  went  out  in  fire  and  smoke  at  the  hands  of 
Christian  devils.  What  for?  Oh,  simply  that  one 
was  a  Unitarian  and  could  not  see  how  the  .son  could 
be  as  old  as  the  father.  The  other — the  splendid 
Bruno — because  he  held  to  the  doctrine  which  Tyndall 
and  Huxley  teaches  to-day — the  potency  of  matter  and 
completeness  of  nature. 

How  can  any  true  man  or  woman  be  ashamed  of 
such  company?  I  am  proud  to  claim  a  kin.shi])  in 
.sentiment,  .spirit  and  purpose  with  such  a  noble  man 
as  \'oltaire,  that  blazing  light  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury; he  who  had  the  backbone  to  defy  and  point  the 
finger  of  scorn  and  contempt  at  all  the  living  kings 
and  priests  of  the  old  world,  who.se  lips  turned  white 
with  rage  at  the  livid  lightning  shocks  which  fell  from 
his  pen.     He  it  was  who  said  the  only  gosjiel  we  should 


0-^ 


FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


read  is  the  book  of  nature,  written  with  God's  own 
hand  and  stamped  with  his  own  seal.  The  only  relig- 
ion we  ought  to  profess  is  to  reverence  God  and  act 
like  honest  men.  It  would  be  as  impossible  for  this 
simple  and  eternal  religion  to  produce  evil,  as  it  would 
be  impossible  for  the  Christian  superstition  not  to  pro- 
duce it. 

Who  can  but  feel  a  sense  of  honest  pride  to  be 
counted  in  sympathy  with  the  spirit  and  life  work  of 
such  noble  men:  D.  Holback,  Hugo,  Humboldt, 
Franklin,  Jefferson,  Buckle,  Comte,  Kant,  Draper, 
Garison,  Lincoln,  and  a  host  of  others  whose  lives 
have  shed  light  into  the  darkness  of  the  past,  and 
have  lived,  loved  and  suffered  in  the  cause  of  mental 
freedom.  And  of  such  lives  one  name  more  I  bring, 
and  as  I  approach  that  name  I  feel  a  deep  sense  of 
gratitude  for  such  a  life  as  that  of  Thomas  Paine — 
name  ever  dear  to  every  justice  and  libert^^-loving 
man  and  woman.  Born  in  poverty  as  he  was  and  yet 
how  rich  in  true  wealth;  born  as  he  was  amid  the 
cruel,  surging  breakers  of  political  and  religious 
despotism,  and  j^et  how  true  to  the  spirit  which,  like 
the  pole  star,  guided  his  life,  rising  like  a  Sampson 
in  his  might  he  carried  awaj-  the  gates  of  king  craft 
and  priest  craft,  the  enemies  of  human  freedom.  He 
had  no  reverence  for  sacred  and  time-honored  lies;  and 
his  great  heart  throbbed  for  the  down-trodden,  suffer- 
ing poor.  He  gave  up  all  as  a  sacrifice  upon  the  altar 
of  liberty  and  truth.  He  lost  everything  but  the  love 
of  truth  and  self-respect.  Some  of  his  friends  forsook 
him  when  in  prison  because  he  w^as  true  to  himself 
Who  but  the  immortal  Paine  could  have  said:  Where 
liberty  is  not,  there  is  my  countr}^     There  is  not  in  all 


AM)  I.IHICKAI,    I,1-:CTUKI-:S.  53 

the  Bibles  of  tlie  world  a  sentimenl  more  grand — glow- 
ing as  it  does  with  self-abnegation  and  devotion  to 
liberty.  And  may  heaven  forget  me  and  mine  if  I 
forget^to  pay  my  poor  tribute  of  love  and  gratitude  to 
these  saviors  of  men,  not  in  a  sense  of  hero  worship  or 
man  worship,  but  in  a  sense  made  mellow  and  tender 
by  the  memory  of  injustice,  ingratitude  and  persecu- 
tion, which,  like  a  dark  cloud,  has  follow^ed  in  the 
pathway  of  these  great  infidels  of  the  past. 

A  few  more  years  of  infidelity  and  free  thought:  a 
few  more  Bennetts  in  prison  for  the  .sake  of  principle: 
a  few  more  men  like  IngensoU  to  carry  the  torch 
handed  down  from  the  Infidels  of  the  past,  and  super- 
stition will  flee  away  like  fog  before  the  morning  sun. 
I  am  glad  that  the  day-star  of  hope  is  ri.sing  on  high, 
and  what  the  church  calls  infidelity  has  become  the 
hope  of  this  world. 

Infidelity  and  unbelief  in  senseless  creeds  and  dog- 
mas has  saved  this  world  from  the  night  of  barbarism, 
opened  wide  the  doors  for  science,  and  scattered  its 
blessings  in  the  pathway  of  our  race. 

Liberalism,  unbelief  and  infidelity  is  not  unfaithful- 
ness to  truth  and  duty.  Let  no  man  pride  him.self  on 
being  an  Infidel  iniless  he  be  .a  seeker  and  lover  of 
truth  and  justice. 

Free  thinking  is  not  loose  thinking.  True  religion 
is  simply  goodness,  and  infidelity,  the  crowning  glory 
of  a  full  rounded  manhood,  is  freedom  to  think,  and 
liberty  to  utter  ones  best  thought  for  truth  and  liberty. 


■^ 


54  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 


I  WAHT  TO  BE  AN  INFIDEL. 


I  want  to  be  an  infidel; 

And  with  infidels  to  stand; 
No  crown  upon  my  forhead; 

Nor  harp  within  my  hand. 

I'd  rather  be  an  infidel 

To  every  book  and  creed 
That  binds  the  soul  in  galling  chains, 

And  fails  to  meet  its  need. 

I  want  to  be  an  infidel, 

From  superstition  free; 
My  God  and  heaven  within  the  soul 

My  church  and  priest  to  be. 

I'd  rather  be  an  infidel, 

And  champion  human  rights. 

Than  wear  the  garb  of  priest  or  king, 
With  all  their  lordh^  might. 

I'd  rather  be  an  infidel, 

M)^  church  within  my  mind, 

Than  lend  a  hand  to  sect  or  clan, 
My  brother  man  to  bind. 


AND  UBKRAI.  LKCTURES.  55 

I  love  the  name  of  infidel, 

'Tis  sweet  music  to  my  ear; 
A  synonym  of  liberty, 

A  charm  for  childish  fear. 

I  want  to  be  an  infidel, 

Like  Ingersoll,  the  brave, 
And  help  to  lift  the  masses  up, 

Thoui^h  it  lead  to  martyr's  grave. 

I  would  that  all  were  infidels, 

It  is  superstitions  tomb; 
It  brings  the  day  of  science  near, 

'Tis  manhood's  richest  bloom. 

Who  would  not  be  an  infidel. 
And  the  ranks  of  freedom  swell; 

To  fight  the  wrongs  of  church  and  state, 
And  quench  the  fires  of  hell? 

I'm  proud  to  be  an  infidel, 

Tho'  of  gold  it  brings  small  gain; 

'Tis  wealth  enough,  the  power  of  tho't — 
The  Common  Sense  of  Paine. 


56  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


NATURE  AHD  GRACE. 


It  has  always  been  thought  a  most  critical  case, 
When  a  man  was  possessed  of  more  Nature  than  Grace; 
For  Theology  teaches  that  man  from  the  first 
Was  a  sinner  by  Nature,  and  justly  accurst; 
And  "Salvation  by  Grace"  was  the  wonderful  plan, 
Which  God  had  invented  to  save  erring  man. 
'Twas  the  only  atonement  He  knew  how  to  make 
To  annul  the  effects  of  His  own  sad  mistake. 

Now  this  was  the  doctrine  of  good  Parson  Brown, 
Who  preached,  not  long  since,  in  a  small  countrj'  town. 
He  was  zealous  and  earnest,  and  could  so  excel 
In  describing  the  tortures  of  sinners  in  hell, 
That  a  famous  revival  commenced  in  the  place. 
And  hundreds  of  souls  found  salvation  by  grace; 
But  he  felt  that  he  had  not  attained  his  desire 
Till  he  had  converted  one  Peter  McGuire. 

This  man  was  a  blacksmith,  frank,  fearless  and   bold, 
With  great  brawny  sinews,  like  Vulcan  of  old; 
He  had  little  respect  for  what  ministers  preach, 
And  sometimes  was  very  profane  in  his  speech. 
His  opinions  were  founded  on  clear  common  sense. 
And  he  spoke  as  he  thought,  though  he  oft  gave  offense; 
But  however  wanting,  in  whole  or  in  part, 
He  was  sound,  and  all  right,  when    you    came   to    his 
heart. 


AND  I.inKRAr,    I.KCTURES.  57 

One  day  the  good  parson,  witli  jmous  intent, 

To  the  smithy  of  Peter  most  hopefnlly  went: 

And  there,  while  the  hammer  industriousl}-  swnng, 

He  preached  and  he  prayed,  exhorted  and  sung. 

And  warned,  and  entreated  poor  Peter  to  fly 

From  the  pit  of  destruction  before  he  should  die; 

And  to  wash   himself  clean   from   the   world's  sinful 

strife 
In  the  Blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  the  River  of  Life. 

Well,  and  what  would  you  now  l)e  inclined  to   expect 
Was  the  probable  issue  and  likely  effect? 
Why,  he  swore  "like  a  pirate,"  and  what  do  you  think? 
From  a  little  black  bottle  took  something  to  drink! 
And  he  said  "I'll  not  mention  the  Blood  of  the  Lamb, 

But  as  for  the  River  it  aren't  worth  a ;" 

Then  pausing,  as  if  to  restrain  his  rude  force. 
He  quietly  added,  "a  mill-dam,  of  course." 

Quick  out  of  the  smithy  the  minister  fled, 

As  if  a  big  bomb-.shell  had  ])urst  near  his  head: 

And  as  he  continued  to  haste  on  his  way, 

He  was  too  much  excited  to  sing  or  to  pray; 

But  he  thought  how  that  some  were  elected  b}-  Grace, 

As  heirs  of  the  kingdom — made  sure  of  their   place — 

While  others  were  doomed  to  the  pains  of  hell-fire . 

And  if  e'er  there  was  one  such  'twas    Peter    McGuire. 

That  night,  when  the  Storm  King  was  riding  on  high. 
And  the  red  shafts  of  lightning  gleamed  bright  in    the 

sky. 
The  church  of  the  village,  "the  Temple  of  God," 


58  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

Was  struck,  for  the  want  of  a  good  lightning  rod, 
And  swiftly  descending,  the  elements  dire 
Set  the  minister's  house,  close  beside  it,  on  fire, 
While  he  peacefully  slumbered,  with  never  a  fear 
Of  the  terrible  work  of  destruction  so  near. 

There  was  Mary,  and  Hannah,  and  Tommy,   and   Joe, 
All  sweetly  asleep  in  the  bedroom  below, 
While  their  father  was  near,  with  their  mother  at  rest, 
(Ivike    the   wife    of  John    Rogers    "with    one   at    the 

breast. ' ' ) 
But  Alice,  the  eldest,  a  gentle  young  dove. 
Was  asleep  all  alone  in  the  room  just  above; 
And  when  the  wild  cry  of  the  rescurer  came 
She  only  was  left  to  the  pitiless  flame. 

The  fond  mother  counted  her  treasures  of  love, 
When  lo!  one  was  missing — "O  Father  above!" 
How  madly  she  shrieked  in  her  agony  wild — 
"My  Alice!  my  Alice!  O,  save  my  dear  child!" 
Then  down  on  his  knees  fell  the  Parson,    and   prayed 
That  the  terrible  wrath  of  the  Lord  might   be    stayed. 
Said  Peter  McGuire:  "Prayer  is  good  its  place, 
But  then  it  don't  suit  this  particular  case." 

He  turned  down  the  sleeves  of  his  red  flannel  shirt. 
To  shield  his  great  arms,  all  besmutted  with  dirt; 
Then  into  the  billows  of  smoke  and  of  fire, 
Not  pausing  an  instant  dashed  Peter  McGuire. 
O,  that  terrible  moment  of  anxious  suspense! 
How  breathless  their  watching!  their  fear  how  intense! 
And  then  their  great  joy!  which  was  freely  expressed 
When  Peter  appeared  with  the  child  on  his  breast. 


AND  i.ihi:rai.  i.kctukks.  59 

A  shout  rent  the  air  when  the  darling  he  laid 
In  the  arms  of  her  mother,  so  pale  and  dismayed; 
And  as  Alice  looked  up    and    most   gratefully    smiled, 
He  bowed  down  his  head  and  he  wept  like  a  child. 
O,  these  tears  ot  brave  manhood  that   rained   o'er   his 

face. 
Showed  the  true  Grace  of  Nature,  and    the    Nature   of 

Grace ; 
'Twas  a  manifest  token,  a  visible  sign 
Of  he  indwelling  life  of  the  Spirit  Divine. 

Consider  such  natures,  and  then,  if  you  can, 
Preach  of  "total  depravity"  innate  in  man. 
Talk  of  blasphemy  I  why,  'tis  profanity  wild 
To  say  that  the  Father  thus  cur.sed  his  own  child. 
Go  learn  of  the  stars,  and  the  dew-spangled  sod, 
TJiat  all  things  rejoice  in  the  goodness  of  God: 
That  each  thing  created  is  good  in  its  place. 
And  Nature  is  but  the  expression  of  Grace. 


6o  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


WILL  IT  PAY? 

Men  say  what  the}^  will 

Of  the  author  of  ill, 
And  the  wiles  of  the  devil  that  tempt  them  astray, 

But  there's  something  far  worse — 

A  more  terrible  curse — 
It  is  selling  the  truth  for  the  sake  of  the  pay. 

lyike  Judas  of  old, 

For  silver  and  gold, 
Man  often  has  bartered  his  conscience  away. 

Has  walked  in  disguise, 

And  has  trafficked  in  lies, 
If  the  prospect  was  good  that  the  business  would  pay 

If  a  fortune  is  made 

By  cheating  in  trade. 
It  is  seldom,  if  ever,  men  question  the  way; 

But  they  make  it  a  rule 

That  a  man  is  a  fool 
Who  strives  to  make  justice  and  honesty  pay. 

An  instance  more  clear 

Could  never  appear. 
Than  was  seen  in  the  life  of  old  Nicholas  Gray; 

Who  ne'er  made  a  move 

In  religion  or  love. 
Unless  he  was  sure  that  the  venture  would  pay. 


AND  ijrp:ral  lkctukks.  6i 

He  built  him  a  house 

That  would  scarce  hold  a  mouse, 
Where  he  managed  to  live  in  a  miserly  way, 

Till  he  said:     "On  my  life, 

I  will  take  me  a  wife; 
It  is  running  a  risk — but  think  it  will  pay." 

Then  he  opened  a  store. 

Whose  fair,  tempting  door. 
Led  sure  and  direct  to  destruction's  broad  way; 

For  liquor  he  sold 

To  the  young  and  the  old, 
To  the  poor  and  the  wretched,  and  all  who  could  pa}'. 

A  woman  once  came 

And  in  God's  holy  name, 
She  prayed  him  his  terrible  traffic  to  stay, 

That  her  husl)and  might  not 

Be  a  poor,  drunken  sot, 
And  spend  all  his  money  for  what  would  not  pay. 

Old  Nicholas  laughed. 

As  his  whisky  he  quaffed. 
And  he  said,  "If  your  husband  comes  hither  to-day, 

I  will  sell  him  his  dram. 

And  I  don't  care  a — clam 
How  you  are  supported  if  I  get  my  pay." 

So  he  prospered  in  sin, 

And  continued  to  win 
The  wages  of  death  in  this  terril^le  way. 

Till  a  constable's  raid 

Put  an  end  to  his  trade. 
And  closed  up  the  business  as  well  as  the  pay. 


62  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 

To  church  he  then  went, 

With  a  pious  intent 
Of  "getting  religion,"  as  some  people  say — 

For  he  said,  "It  comes  cheap, 

And  costs  nothing  to  keep. 
And  from  close  observation  I  think  it  will  pay." 

But  the  tax  and  the  tithe 

Made  old  Nicholas  writhe. 
And  he  thought  that  the  plate  came  too  often  his  way; 

So  he  soon  fell  from  grace. 

And  made  vacant  his  place, 
For  he  said,  "I  perceive  that  religion  don't  pay." 

Still  striving  to  thrive, 

And  thriving  to  strive, 
His  attention  was  turned  a  political  way; 

But  he  could  not  decide 

Which  party  or  side 
Would  be  the  most  likely  to  prosper  or  pay. 

He  was  puzzled,  and  hence 

He  sat  on  the  fence. 
Prepared  in  an  instant  to  jump  either  way; 

But  it  fell  to  his  fate 

To  jump  just  too  late. 
And  he  said  in  disgust,  "This  of  all  things  don't  pay." 

Year  passed  after  year. 
And  there  did  not  appear 
A  spark  of  improvement  in  Nicholas  Gray, 
For  his  morala  sfrew  worse 


AND  LIBERAL  LKCTURKS.  63 

With  the  weight  of  his  purse, 
As  he  managed  to  make  his  rascality  pay. 

At  length  he  fell  ill. 

So  he  drew  up  his  will, 
Just  in  time  to  depart  from  his  mansion  of  clay; 

And  he  said  to  old  Death. 

With  his  last  gasp  of  breath, 
"Don't  hunt  for  my  soul,  for  I  know  it  won't  pay." 

O,  'tis  sad  to  rehearse, 

In  prose  or  in  verse. 
The  faults  and  the  follies  that  lead  men  astra\-; 

For  gold  is  but  dross. 

And  a  terrible  loss, 
When  conscience  and  manhood  are  given  in  pay. 

Then  be  not  deceived. 

Though  men  have  believed 
That  'tis  lawful  to  sin  in  a  general  way: 

But  stick  to  the  right 

With  all  of  your  might, 
For  truth  is  eternal,  and  alwa\-s  will  T'^av. 


64  FREE  THOUGHT  POEMS 


THE   MONEYLESS   MAH. 


Is  there  no  secret  place  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
Where  charity  dwelleth,  where  virtue  has  birth, 
Where  bosoms  in  mercy  and  kindness  will  heave, 
When  the  poor  and  the  wretched  shall  ask  and  receive? 
Is  there  no  place  at  all,  where  a  knock  from    the   poor 
Will  bring  a  kind  angel  to  open  the   door? 
Oh  !  search  the  wide  world,  wherever  you  can, 
There  is  no  open  door  for  a  moneyless  man. 

Go,  look  in  your  hall  where  the  chandelier's  light 
Drives  off  with  its  splendor  the  darkness  of  night; 
Where  the  rich  hanging  velvet,  in  shadowy  fold, 
Sweeps  gracefully  down  with  its  trimmings  of  gold; 
And  the  mirrors  of  silver  take  up  and  renew. 
In  long-lighted  vistas,  the  wildering  view. 
Go  there  at  the  banquet,  and  find,  if  you  can, 
A  welcoming  smile  for  a  moneyless  man. 

Go,  look  in  your  church  of  the   cloud-reaching   spire, 
Which  gives  to  the  sun  his  same  look  of  red  fire; 
Where  the  arches  and  columns   are   gorgeous   within, 
And  the  walls  seem  as  pure  as  a  soul  without  sin; 
Walk  down  the  long  aisles;  see  the  rich  and  the   great 
In  the  pomp  and  the  pride  of  their  worldly  estate ; 
Walk  down  in  your  patches  and  find,  if  you  can. 
Who  opens  the  pew  for  the  moneyless  man. 


AND  LIBERAL  LLCTURES.  65 

Go,  look  in  the  banks,  where  Mammon  has  told 
His  hundreds  and  thousands  of  silver  and  gold; 
Where,  safe  from  the  hands  of  the  starving   and    poor 
Lie  piles  upon  piles  of  the  glittering  ore; 
Walk  up  to  their  counters — ah!  there    you    may    stay, 
Till  your  limbs  shall  grow  old    and    your    hair    shall 

grow  gray, 
And  you'll  find  at  the  bank  not  one  of  the  clan 
With  money  to  lend  to  a  moneyless  man. 

Go,  look  to  your  judge,  in    his    dark,    flowing  gown, 
With  the  scales  wherein  law  weigheth  equity  down; 
Where  he  frowns  on  the  weak  and  smiles  on  the  strong, 
And  punishes  right  whilst  he  justifies  wrong; 
Where  juries  their  limbs  on  the  Bible  have  laid 
To  render  a  verdict  they've  already  made; 
Go  there  in  the  court-room  and  find,  if  ^-ou  can. 
Any  law  for  the  cause  of  a  monej^less  man. 

Then  go  to  your  hovel — no  raven  has  fed 

The  wife  that  has  suffered  too  long  for  her  bread; 

Kneel  down  by  her  pallet  and  kiss  the  death-frost 

From  the  lips  of  the  angel  your  poverty  lost; 

Then  turn  in  your  agony  upward  to  God 

And  bless,  while  it  smites  you,  the  chastening  rod; 

And  you'll  find  at  the  end  of  your  life's  little  span. 

There's  a  "welcome"  above  for  a  monevless  man. 


66  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


HOW    TO    BE    HAPPY; 


-AND 


TZEIE      OSTECTS      .^liTX)      "CTSES      O^      XjXIH'E. 


When  we  ask  ourselves  "what  are  the  objects  and 
uses  of  life?"  we  find  no  solution  of  the  problem  only 
as  we  find  it  wrapped  up  in  the  nature  of  things.  And, 
believing,  as  I  do,  in  the  infinite  adaptation  of  means 
to  ends  in  the  natural  world,  I  must  infer  that  life  is 
meant  for  happiness. 

This  grand  and  beautiful  world  is  full  of  life,  and  in 
whatever  form  life  manifests  itself,  whether  in  plant, 
tree  or  animal,  to  reach  the  best  results  implies  condi- 
tions of  culture.  This  is  as  true  of  man  as  any  other 
animal,  and  is  as  true  of  the  mind  as  of  the  physical 
being;  and  to  promote  healthful,  and  consequently 
happy  life,  is  a  science  of  the  highest  importance.  For 
as  every  phase  of  life  is  dependent  on  conditions  for  its 
manifestations,  so  also  is  our  happiness  or  miserj-  the 
result  of  law  and  the  conditions  .surrounding  us.  For 
while  it  is  true  that  we  did  not  make  ourselves  and  the 
defective  organisms,  which  are  ours  by  inheritance,  and 
are  in  large  part  the  creatures  of  circumstances,  yet 
there  is  a  margin  for  us  wherein  we  may  do  much 
towards  furnishins:  conditions  and  in    some   sense   be- 


AND  LIBERAL  LECTURES.  67 

conie  the  creatures  of  circumstance  and  yet  remain  but 
parts  of  one  stupendous  whole,  whose  body  nature  is, 
and  God  the  soul. 

To  be  happy  then,  the  first  and  great  connnand  of 
nature  is,  be  healthy.  This  command  is  stamped 
upon  animate  nature  in  all  her  parts.  Be  healthy  in 
body  by  obedience  to  the  law  of  our  physical  being, 
not  by  taking  drugs,  but  by  natural  sanitary  condi- 
tions. Be  healthy  in  mind,  tor  there  are  quite  as  many 
diseased  minds  as  there  are  diseased  bodies — physical 
and  mental  life  are  near  neighbors  and  act  and  rest 
upon  each  other.  Be  healthy  in  mind,  not  by  drug- 
ing  the  mind  with  schemes  of  atonement  or  tr^'ing  to 
dodge  the  effects  of  natural  law,  but  by  obedience  to 
the  law  of  the  mind  and  breathing  the  pure  air  of 
mental  freedom.  Cultivate  all  the  faculties  of  the  in- 
tellect, let  creeds  and  dogmas  go  to  the  bats  and  owls 
of  the  past,  for  these  obscure  the  mental  vision  and 
prejudice  the  mind  against  new  fonns  of  truth.  And 
thus  being  natural,  grow  wiser  and  better,  and  with 
the  pure  fresh  inspiration  of  to-day,  be  happy — for  a 
healthy  body  and  mind  is  happiness,  if  not  there  must 
be  a  sad  defect  in  the  divine  economy  of  this  world. 

The  wide  world  over  mankind  are  struggling  to  be 
happy;  and  riches  or  to  be  wealthy  is  the  great  hobby 
of  this  world  in  both  civilized  and  barbarous  life.  And 
.so  it  is,  the  world  rushes  on  pell-mell  after  this  phan- 
tom which  eludes  the  grasp  at  every  turn,  leaving  its 
wear}^  victim  far  in  the  rear,  soured  and  saddened  in 
the  race  after  this  igniis/atus,  or  fal.se  light  to  human 
happiness.  To  my  mind  the  old  proverb  which  .says: 
"He  that  makes  haste  to  be  rich  brings  a  snare  upon 
his  soul,"  is  true  to  nature,  and  simply  the  enunciation 


68  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

of  natural  law,  the  operation  of  which  ma}'  be  seen    in 
society  on  every  hand. 

For  an  illustration  take  the  poor  laboring  man  in 
the  shop  or  in  the  field.  He  has  health,  and  his  sleep 
is  made  sweet  by  dailj^  toil.  He  is  content  with  his 
lot  and  enjoys  in  a  high  degree  the  blessings  of  family 
and  home.  His  wife  is  all  the  world  to  him,  and 
their  mutual  love  and  affection  makes  their  little  home 
a  heaven — rosy-cheeked  and  bright-e5'ed  children, 
chips  from  two  loving  hearts,  like  oli^•e  plants  grow 
up  about  their  table  to  make  their  bond  of  union  more 
complete.  They  are  poor  as  the  world  counts  riches, 
and  yet  they  are  happy,  but  now  comes  the  demon  of 
unrest  and  anxious  disquietude.  While  hard  at  work, 
his  arm  strong  and  his  heart  light  bj^  the  thought  of 
home  and  those  dependent  upon  him,  he  lifts  his  eyes 
and  sees  approaching  a  magnificent  carriage  with  Mr. 
Shoddy  and  Mrs.  Sliodd}-,  and  all  the  little  Shoddies, 
rolling  along  in  gorgeous  splendor.  He  stops  his 
work  and  gazes  after  the  gay  equippage  until  out  of 
sight.  Then  heaves  a  sigh  and  says  to  himself: 
Money  buys  everything,  and  money  will  buy  all  these; 
and  in  this  unhappiest  moment  of  his  whole  life  he 
makes  a  vow  to  be  rich,  come  w^hat  will. 

Now  then  begins  a  strain  upon  his  honesty  and  af- 
fections to  which  he  was  before  a  stranger.  He  makes 
everything  bend  to  his  passion  to  be  rich,  and  this  is 
the  snare  set  for  the  soul  who  makes  haste  to  be  rich. 
He  loses  his  frankness  and  becomes  sly  and  cautious, 
and  learns  the  tricks  of  trade,  which  politeness  calls 
business  tact.  He  is  so  absorbed  in  money-making 
that  he  loses  all  the  pleasure  he  had  in  wife,  children 
and  home,  and   becomes    penurious    and    ill-natured. 


AND  MHICRAI,  LICCTU KI-:s.  69 

The  wife  of  his  \-oung  heart  is  starving  for  the  love 
which  has  become  a  shipwreck,  grows  sad  and  care- 
worn, or  seeks  that  love  elsewhere  to  which  her  home 
has  become  a  stranger;  and  even  the  children  grow 
serious  at  the  sound  of  his  footstep,  as  though  some 
dread  shadow  had  fallen  on  their  path.  He  joins  the 
church  to  extend  his  business  relations,  and  thus  by 
one  move  becomes  a  bigot  and  a  hypocrite  that  he  may 
become  rich.  He  gains  ten  thousand  dollars  but  is 
not  happy  yet:  he  gains  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
and  is  not  happy  yet;  he  gains  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars  and  yet  happiness  recedes  from  him.  He  coins 
his  body  and  all  the  aspirations  of  his  soul  into  dollars 
and  lies  down  in  premature  death  a  rich  man.  l)ut  how 
poor  in  those  qualities  of  mind  which  are  the  true 
riches  which  outltve  the  ravages  of  time. 

Oh,  how  a  morbid  desire  to  be  rich  paralizes  the 
higher  faculties,  of  the  mind  and  closes  the  windows  of 
the  soul  to  the  better  influences  of  higher  life.  But 
thus  it  is,  meanness  is  a  part  of  the  price  it  costs  to  be 
rich,  and  I  don't  wonder  that  the  prophet  said, 
"Hardl}^  shall  a  rich  man  enter  into  heaven;"  simply 
because  there  is  no  heaven  in  wealth  alone,  but  rather 
in  a  contented  mind. 

Next  to  getting  rich  comes  getting  religion  as  a 
means  of  happiness.  Now  to  many  people  religion  is 
a  means  to  develop  a  higher  and  better  manhood,  and 
the  Bible,  Jesus,  rites  and  ceremonies,  or  religious 
notions,  are  helps  or  means,  not  masters,  to  aid  in 
developing  human  nature  and  lift  it  to  higher  levels  of 
life  and  experience.  To  many,  religion  is  a  ladder  or 
a  crutch,  and  that  is  the  best  religion  which  helps  one 
most. 


70  FRKE  THOUGHT    POEMS 

With  this  view  of  religion  I  have  no  fault  to  find. 
But  it  does  not  follow  that  because  a  ladder  is  a  need 
to  a  short  man  and  a  crutch  to  a  lame  man  that  every- 
body should  carry  a  ladder  or  hobble  about  on  a  crutch. 
But  to  the  vast  mass  of  mankind  false  views  of  religion 
have  obtained,  and  it  stands  to  them,  not  as  a  means, 
but  a  finality  and  the  end  to  be  attained,  the  forgive- 
ness of  sin.  To  me  this  is  dangerous  doctrine.  God 
is  law  and  sin  is  a  violation  of  law,  and  God  can't  for- 
give sin  no  more  than  water  can  run  up  hill.  The)^ 
speak  of  religion  as  though  it  could  be  taken  on  by 
exposure  like  measles  or  other  contagious  maladies, 
and  I  have  always  noticed  that  women  take  it  a  great 
deal  harder  and  more  readily  than  men. 

I  was  exposed  to  it  when  I  was  very  young  and  had 
it  so  hard  that  it  lasted  me  about  twenty-five  years.  I 
should  have  been  relieved  of  this  complaint  much 
sooner  but  for  the  gospel  medicine  which  was  con- 
stantly given  to  keep  the  disease  alive.  With  this  view 
of  religion  I  have  no  sympathy,  and  will  do  all  I  can 
to  relieve  men  from  this  nightmare  and  phantom  which 
so  many  pursue  in  search  of  happiness. 

When  you  see  physical  life  manifesting  itself  in 
.spasms  the  doctor  tells  you  that  it  is  abnormal  and 
dangerous.  Most  mothers  are  frightened  out  of  their 
wits  when  the  baby  goes  into  fits.  And  yet  they  will 
.send  the  child  to  Sunday  school  for  years  to  bring  it 
into  a  chronic  state  of  mental  disorder — religious  fits,  a 
malady  which  can  only  be  cured  by  free  thought  and 
common  sen.se,  and  may  take  years  of  time  to  effect  a 
cure;  and  as  a  rule  such  as  believe  in  this  kind  of 
religion  are  the  most  unhappy  people  in  the  world. 

Whoever  goes  into  a   bar-room    where    the    inmates 


AND  I.IHliKAI,  IJ-XTUKKS.  7  I 

are  all  fuddled,  and  remains  sober  himself,  will  soon 
be  disgusted  with  the  wretched  business.  But  just 
let  him  take  a  few  nips  himself  and  he  soon  becomes 
part  and  parcel,  and  everything  is  right  and  lovely. 
Just  so  it  is  at  a  revival  meeting  for  saving  souls.  A 
sober,  sensible  spectator  is  disgusted  at  what  he  sees 
and  hears  until  he  gets  the  jim  jams  himself. 

Now  it  matters  not  what  you  debauch  the  mind 
with,  whether  it  be  rum  or  religion,  you  have  unbal- 
anced and  disqualified  the  man  or  woman  for  the 
proper  and  healthy  exercise  of  reason — nature's  light 
and  voice  in  the  human  soul. 

I  attended  a  camp  meeting  not  long  since  and  it 
happened  to  be  the  last  Sunday  after  a  three  weeks' 
run,  and  I  must  say  .such  a  banged-up,  fagged-out 
crowd  of  people  I  never  saw  before,  with  eyes  blood- 
shot, red  and  .swollen  almost  out  of  their  heads,  shout- 
ing, singing  crying,  snivelling,  in  all  degrees  of 
fanatical  idiocy,  because  they  were  so  happy.  One  old 
lady  with  streaming  eyes  related  how  good  God  had 
been  to  her  daughter,  Sally  Ami,  as  she  had  found 
Jesus.  And  then  she  sang  through  her  nose  in  shrill 
snuffy  accent: 

"Religion  makes  me  liappy. 
Ye  followers  of  the  lamb." 

And  I  said  to  myself,  can  it  be  possible  that  I  ever  was 
such  a  goo.se,  and  I  had  to  acknowledge  the  corn  that 
I  had  .slopped  over  just  like  that.  How  in  the  nature 
of  things  can  such  a  religion  make  any  one  happy; 
how  can  the  belief  in  total  depravity  and  eternal  damna- 
tion produce  happiness;  how  can  the  belief  that  the  All 
Father  made  the  most  of  mankind  to  be  lost   and    this 


72  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

world  a  seething  maelstrom,  with  an    eternal    hell    for 
its  vortex,  make  people  happy. 

Can  men  and  women  of  thought  and  feeling  be  truly 
happy  in  the  belief  that  Jesus  died  to  save  a  world, 
and  then  after  all  this  outlay — the  death  of  a  God — 
only  a  little  handful  are  to  be  saved?  Can  it  yield  me 
any  happiness  to  feel  that  my  father  and  the  dear  old 
mother  who  bore  me,  and  brothers  and  sisters  who 
loved  me,  are  in  hell,  while  I,  by  some  hook  or  crook, 
am  to  have  a  white  apron  and  crown  in  heaven?  How 
can  I  have  an  exalted  conception  of  an  infinite  deity 
that  would  permit  an  almost  infinite  devil,  and  mill- 
ions of  little  devils,  to  trip  mj^  feet  and  lead  me  down  to 
eternal  perdition?  To  worship  such  a  God,  is  to  me 
the  worst  form  of  blasphemy. 

To  my  mind  getting  religion  is  an  excitation  or 
spasm,  produced  by  magnetic  and  psychological  power 
through  the  law  of  sympathy.  A  great  big,  full- 
chested,  red-hot,  magnetic  Methodist  medicine  man, 
when  the  conditions  are  favorable,  can  whip  up  the 
emotions  into  a  foam — this  is  psychology — and  in  this 
condition  of  helplessness  their  poor  victims  are  tortured 
into  a  state  of  temporary  insanity.  You  have  no  doubt 
seen  exhibitions  of  this  power,  in  which  the  operator 
will  cause  the  subject  to  taste  sweet,  sour,  bitter  and 
salt,  all  out  of  the  same  glass,  and  cause  them  to  feel 
what  he  feels  and  see  what  he  professes  to  see. 

Thus  the  seeker  after  religion  or  change  of  heart,  as 
they  call  it,  tries  to  see  the  fall  of  man  and  a  sin-cursed 
world,  a  virgin  mother,  a  bleeding  Jesus,  the  atoning 
lamb.  Then  they  try  to  see  themselves,  morall)-,  cov- 
ered with  sores  from  top  to  toe — this  is  called  con- 
viction for    sin.     After    this    terrible    self-abasement, 


AXD  IJBKKAI,  IJ-XTUKES.  73 

human  nature  reacts  and  the  tides  of  feeling  are  turned 
by  music,  prayer  and  songs  into  another  channel  and 
extreme  called  conversion  or  being  born  again. 

But  it  is  far  better  to  be  well  born  the  first  time, 
because  with  returning  reason  and  mature  thought  a 
large  percentage  of  religious  victims  begin  to  doubt 
this  sacred  clap-trap.  Then  they  are  told  Ijy  the  in- 
curably pious  that  to  doubt  is  to  ])e  dannied.  and  thus 
they  are  kept  on  the  rack,  like  a  toad  under  a  harrow, 
for  years,  or  made  utter  hypocrites  by  professing  what 
they  do  not  believe,  and  what  is  not  susceptable  of 
any  proof  in  nature,  science  or  reason. 

How  can  such  a  religion,  with  its  anxious  cares  and 
imaginary  duties,  bring  happiness  to  the  human  heart? 
But  the  religion  of  nature  which  is  not  a  belief  but  a 
growth  and  development,  promoted  by  facts,  not 
fancies,  and  a  faith  in  the  good  order  of  this  universe  by 
hope  in  the  possibilities  of  human  nature,  and  love  for 
the  good,  beautiful  and  true.  These  golden  links 
make  progress  possible,  bind  man  to  man,  and  man  to 
the  eternal  God. 

How  the  people  of  this  planet  have  .suffered  from 
phantoms — the  Gods,  the  comets  and  the  Devil.  The 
Gods,  as  science  advances,  are  growing  less  trouble- 
some to  the  human  family.  The  comets,  through 
astronomical  science,  have  lo.st  their  terror.  The  peo- 
ple no  longer  fear  to  be  wiped  out  of  existence  by  the 
comet's  tail.  So,  also,  the  Devil  is  fast  fading  out,  and 
soon  the  people  will  be  free,  and  Gods  left  to  look 
after  things  which  are  for  Gods  to  know,  while  men 
and  women  shall  mind  their  own  l)usiness  and  care  for 
themselves. 

To  be   happy — be   temperate.     By   temperance   we 


74  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 

mean  a  moderate  use  of  all  good  things,  and  total 
abstinence  from  all  things  hurtful  in  themselves.  In 
eating,  study  the  needs  of  nature  and  not  the  appetites 
and  passions,  as  these  become  morbid  and  vitiated. 
But,  says  one,  I  don't  eat  any  more  than  I  want. 
Well,  the  hog  does  the  same  thing;  he  eats  as  long  as 
he  can  stand  and  then  one  end  of  him  sits  down,  and 
finally  lies  down  altogether  and  yet  keeps  on  eating 
still.  The  reason  shall  control  our  appetites  and  pas- 
sions.    This  is  the  morality  of  nature. 

To  be  happy,  avoid  stimulants,  because  they  cloud 
the  intellect,  spoil  the  temper,  increase  the  action  of 
the  heart,  vitiate  the  blood,  inflame  the  passions,  and 
are  a  constant  source  of  evil — for  excess  is  the  only 
Devil  in  all  the  universe  of  nature,  and  to  avoid  all 
excess  in  the  functions  of  body  and  mind  is  to  be  on 
the  high  road  to  health,  long  life  and  true  happiness. 
To  be  happy — be  kindly  and  love  something,  or 
somebody,  besides  yourself.  If  you  have  no  children, 
love  somebody  else's  children;  if  you  have  no  wife  or 
husband  get  one  as  soon  as  you  can;  for  one  of  the 
saddest  sights  in  this  world  is  to  see  the  love  nature  in 
ruins — a  wreck,  a  waste.  'Tis  love,  not  hate  nor  selfish- 
ness, must  save  this  world  from  evil.  lyOve  something, 
if  nothing  else  than  a  red-eyed  poodle  dog;  and  when 
I  have  seen  a  lady  carrying  along  one  of  those  sore- 
eyed  poodles  I  have  thought,  poor  soul,  she  has 
nothing  else  to  love. 

Be  kindly.  Kind  words  don't  cost  much  and  are 
like  music  to  the  soul,  and  if  you  have  no  money,  or 
food,  or  any  other  gift  to  bestow  upon  the  poor  wonder- 
ing tramp,  give  him  a  kind  word  as  in  the  exercise  of 
your  higher  nature  sunshine  will  come  to  you.     Nature 


AND  MHKKAL  I.HCTrRKS.  75 

is  full  of  goodness  which  may  find  expressicjn  l)y  the 
human  tongue  in  kind  words.  But  I  call  to  mind  one 
of  .^sop's  fables,  of  a  master  who  bade  his  servant  to 
get  for  dinner  the  best  thing  he  could  think  of.  So 
he  got  tongues,  and  the  next  day  he  l)ade  him  get  the 
worst  thing  he  could  think  of;  so  he  prepared  another 
di.sh  of  tongues.  And  so  it  is,  the  human  tongue  is 
the  best  thing  in  the  world  when  it  .sends  forth  good 
words  to  comfort  and  ble.ss,  and  the  worst  thing  when 
set  on  fire  of  evil  passions,  and  stabs  and  bites  the 
neighbor  behind  his  back.  And  if  one-half  of  the 
world  only  knew  what  the  other  half  were  sa\-ing 
about  them,  there  would  be  hell  upon  earth. 

Free  speech,  do  you  say?  Might  as  well  say  free 
knives,  free  pistols,  and  free  poison,  as  a  free 
speech  not  controlled  by  the  law  of  kindness  and 
justice.  Don't  use  cruel  or  unkind  words.  Oh,  how 
they  hurt  the  spirit,  and  like  a  gash  cut  in  the  young 
tree  it  heals  over,  but  in  long  after  years  you  will  find 
the  scar  near  the  heart.  How  many  of  us  are  full 
of  gashes  and  scars  from  thoughtless  and  cruel  words. 

To  be  happy,  be  social.  There  are  some  people  who 
move  through  the  world  and,  like  a  bouquet  of  flowers, 
impart  fragrance  and  beauty  all  along  their  path  and 
make  you  happy  in  their  presence.  There  are  other 
people  who  are  the  porcupines  of  society,  and  their 
quills,  like  fish  hooks,  stick  out  on  every  side  and  you 
are  supremely  miserable  in  their  company  and  atmos- 
phere. To  have  friends,  one  must  be  courteous.  For 
true  courtes}-  freely  offers  that  which  our  friends  can- 
not ask,  and  is  not  only  politeness  but  goodness. 
Ordinar}-  politeness  may  bow  and  scrape  when  you 
come  in  and  bow  and  smile  when  vou  go  out,  and  then 


76  FRKE  THOUGHT    POEMS 

slam  the  door  and  wish  that  old  mother  Smith  would 
stay  at  home.  But  genuine  courtesy  is  both  politeness 
and  kindness.  To  have  friends  one  must  be  friendly, 
and  the  social  side  of  our  nature  is  the  bright  side 
which  turns  towards  heaven  and  reflects  the  sunlight 
of  love,  and  if  I  could  have  my  way  I  would  have  a 
wing  built  on  every  church  for  a  dance  hall  and  social 
intercourse,  and  thus  pull  religion  out  to  a  broad 
guage,  wide  enough  to  educate  the  heels  as  well  as 
the  heart,  for  to  be  social  is  to  open  up  a  fountain  of 
enduring  happiness.  Solitude  has  no  charms  in  earth 
or  heaven,  and  my  observation  is  that  early  marriage 
is  the  broad  road  to  useful  and  happy  life  and  is  pro-t 
ductive  of  regular  habits — moral  purity,  and  saves 
from  many  social  evils;  and  then  how  grand  and  beauti- 
ful to  see  two  j^oung  people  starting  out  in  that  bright- 
est and  holiest  of  all  human  relations  with  pure  hearts 
and  clean  hands  and  a  life  unspotted  by  promiscuity, 
with  high  and  good  purposes  filling  each  heart — on 
such  a  vSight  the  angels  may  well  look  down  and  smile. 

Strike  out,  young  man,  and  take  a  wife,  but  don't 
bring  her  home  to  live  with  your  folks.  Not  that  I 
have  any  horror  for  mothers-in-law;  I  have  not.  Mj^ 
sympathy  is  with  the  mother  who  has  given  all  her 
life  to  the  thankless  task  of  raising  a  wife  for  some 
thankless  man.  But  it  is  a  difficult  undertaking  to 
marry  a  whole  family.  Too  many  cooks  spoil  the 
porridge.  Better  go  west,  young  man,  as  Greeley 
said.  Better  live  in  a  shanty  without  carpet  or  bay 
window;  old  heads  don't  grow  on  5'oung  shoulders, 
and  then  old  folks  seem  to  forget  how  soft  and  green 
the}-  were  when  thej^  were  young. 

To  be  happy,  do  good  to  others.     No  selfish  person 


AND  I.IHI-:RAL  I.ICCTrKKS.  77 

can  be  truly  happy,  for  selfishness,  like  a  cancer,  eat?> 
out  and  sucks  up  the  rich  juices  of  luinian  nature. 
How  precious  the  experiences  of  a  Howard,  a  Jesus, 
a  Nightingale,  whose  lives  have  baen  a  stream  of  glad- 
ness from  doing  good  to  others.  And  what  in  these 
persons  was  a  mighty  impulse,  may  in  some  degree 
inspire  all  our  lives.  Some  people,  like  the  sponge, 
take  everything  in  and  give  nothing  out,  and  if  they 
do,  it  mu-it  be  proclaime:!  from  the  house-top.  Young 
men  and  women  don't  be  selfish  and  stingy.  Let  the 
heart  go  out  in  acts  of  kindness  to  others.  It  will  be 
golden  coin  in  the  bank  of  your  old  age.  Xot  the 
amount  of  service  so  much  as  the  spirit  which  prompts^ 
the  act;  not  the  great  gifts  like  that  of  James  Lick  and 
others,  wrung  from  them  by  the  icy  hand  of  death; 
the  widow's  mite  or  the  housewife  who  gives  to  the 
.  hungry  dog  a  bone  outweighs  them  all,  and  as  the 
little  stone  and  brick,  layer  upon  layer,  form  the 
stately  mansion,  so  the  little  acts  of  life  build  up 
human  character. 

To  be  happy,  cultivate  a  love  of  home.  Sometimes 
I  have  thought  that  domestic  life  in  the  old  world  pre- 
sented a  finer  appreciation  of  home  life  than  in  our  own 
American  life.  We  are  so  ner\"ous  and  fidgety,  and 
withal  so  migratory,  constanth-  on  the  move  that  we 
hardly  take  the  time  to  build  a  home  and  gather  about 
it  those  little  charms  which  makes  home  desirable. 
And  then  our  society  and  social  u.sage  is  so  full  of  fric- 
tion as  to  waste  away  in  dress  parade,  .show  going  and 
sight  .seeing,  the  energies  which  should  go  to  build  up 
home  and  family  life.  There  is  a  common  idea  croping 
out  in  American  life  that  home  is  a  good  place  to  stay, 
when  there  is  nowhere   else   to    go.     And     there    are 


78  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

some  men  who  think  that  home  is  a  good  place  to ".  eat 
and  sleep  when  the  saloons  are  all  closed  and  there  is 
is  no  place  else  to  be.  And  another  class  who  have 
lodge  on  the  brain  and  join  everything  except  their 
wives  and  family  at  home.  To  such  people  home  is  a 
capital  place  for  the  care-worn  wife  to  sta}-  and  wear 
out  her  life  struggling  against  poverty  and  the 
numerous  cares  in  raising  a  familv  of  children,  with 
hardl}'  ever  a  cheering  word,  a  pet  name,  or  a  kiss  to 
lighten  the  load  of  family  life.  I  suppose  there  are 
thousands  of  homes  where  the  wife  would  be  frightened 
not  a  little  should  the  husband  come  home  early  and 
walk  right  up  to  her  and  salute  her  with  a  good  square 
hug  and  kiss.  And  I  don't  wonder  that  so  many 
wives  lose  the  elastic  step  and  bloom  of  health  from 
the  cheek  and  are  utterly  broken  down  in  early  life. 
They  make  married  life  a  mart3Tdom  instead  of  a 
mutual  blessing.  To  be  happy  in  married  life  there 
must  be  love  and  affection  in  the  home. 

There  are  many  people  who  have  lands  and  land- 
scape gardens  of  rare  beauty  and  a  place  to  live  in, 
and  yet  no  home;  while  the  little  house  or  humble 
vine-clad  cottage  where  mutual  love  abides  is  home 
and  heaven.  Let  us  make  the  home  a  sacred  place 
of  retreat  from  the  rude  blasts  of  life  and  make  the 
•children  happy  at  home,  that  in  the  coming  years  the 
old  roof-tree  and  hearth-stone  may  be  a  green  spot  in 
their  memory,  and,  like  a  star  of  Bethlehem,  .shall 
shed  its  light  and  beauty  all  along  their  path  in  life. 
How  the  thought  of  such  a  home  follows  the  wayward 
boy  and  girl  and  points  to  virtue  and  heaven,  and  how 
these  tender  memories  of  early  life  hang  about  the 
heart,  like  the  gentle  dews  of  heaven  they  quicken  our 


AND  LIHERAL   LKCTUKES.  Jy 

aspirations  and  make  our  declining    life    a    stream    of 
i^ladness. 

In  conclusion,  let  me  saj-  to  be  happj-,  be  honest. 
It  is  not  enough  to  be  a  Methodist.  Baptist,  Presl)y- 
terian,  or  even  a  Christian — one  needs  to  be  honest. 
It  is  no  doubt  hard  for  some  people  in  the  church  and 
out  of  it  to  be  strictly -honest,  for  much  depends  upon 
parentage  and  organism.  And  yet  to  be  fully  honest 
is  the  triumph  of  a  glorious  manhood  and  an  attribute 
of  character  which  is  the  foundation  of  all  virtue  and 
the  soul  of  all  beauty.  How  true  this  is  to  nature's 
law — the  better  we  become  acquainted  with  honest 
people  the  better  they  look  to  us,  even  in  spite  of 
physical  deformity.  We  soon  lose  sight  of  a  birth 
mark  on  the  face  or  wart  on  the  nose  of  an  honest  pef- 
sm.  The  beauty  of  an  honest  soul  .shines  through 
and  illuminates  the  homely  face  like  as  the  sun  shines 
through  the  rift  of  clouds,  gilds  all  with  gold  and 
crimson  beauty.  Think  ot  this,  young  friends,  you 
who  prink  and  prim  before  the  gla.ss  and  swallow 
drugs  for  the  complexion,  and  don't  forget  that  hone.st>- 
is  the  best  cosmetic  for  the  human  face.  What  we 
need  is  a  deeper  moral  life  in  the  individual.  We 
want  common  honesty  in  the  family  and  school,  for 
these  underlie  both  church  and  state.  We  need  an 
honest  government  in  the  interest  of  the  people.  We 
need  an  honest  press  as  an  exponent  of  truth  and 
ju.stice — the  friend  of  the  people,  the  champion  of  the 
weak  against  the  strong,  and  not  the  abject  slave  of 
of  capital  and  monopoly  in  money  and  religion.  For 
what  the  world  needs  to-day  is  not  religion  so  much 
as  common  hone.sty.  We  want  an  hone.st,  fearless 
pulpit  and  rostrum,  and  I  am  glad  the  platform   is  to 


8o  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

supersede  the  pulpit,  which  has  been  a  barricade  for 
sacred  Hes,  which  have  lived  centuries  longer  than 
would  have  been  possible  on  an  open  platform.  I  am 
glad  the  lecture  system  is  growing  in  favor  with  the 
people.  ■  It  implies  open  questious  and  new  questions 
and  an  honest,  two-sided  search  after  truth.  Give  us 
more  bold,  brave  men  like  Paine,  Parker,  Channing 
and  Ingersoll  who  dare  speak  the  truth.  For  a  fear- 
less, honest  man  or  woman  is  the  highest  type  of 
beauty  and  nature's  noblest  work. 


AND  LIRKKAI,  I.lCCTl-RES.  Si 


A  RESPECTABLE  LIE 


A  respectable  lie,  sir !     Pray  what  do  you  mean  ? 

Why  the  term  in  itself  is  a  plain  contradiction. 
A  lie  is  a  lie,  and  deserves  no  respect, 

But  merciless  judgment  and  speedy  conviction. 
It  springs  from  corruption,  is  ser\'ile  and  mean. 

An  evil  conception,  a  cowards  invention, 
And  whether  direct,  or  simply  implied, 

Has  naught  but  deceit  for  its  end  and  intention. 

Ah,  yes !  very  well !     So  good  morals  would  teach; 

But  facts  are  the  most  stubborn  things   in  existence. 
And  they  tend  to  show  that  great  lies  win  respect. 

And  hold  their  position  with  wondrous  persistence. 
The  small  lies,  the  white  lies,  the  lies  feebly  told, 

The  world  will  condemn  both  in  spirit  and  letter. 
But  the  great,  bloated  lies  will  be  held  in  respect. 

And  the  larger  and  older  a  lie  is  the  better. 

A  respectable  lie,  from  a  popular  man, 

On  a  popular  theme,  never  taxes  endurance; 
And  the  pure,  golden  coin  of  unpopular  truth. 

Is  often  refused  for  the  brass  of  assurance. 
You  may  dare  all  the  laws  of  the  land  to  defy. 

And  bear  to  the  truth  the  most  shameless  relation, 
But  never  attack  a  respectable  lie, 

If  you  value  a  name  and  good  reputation. 


82  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

A  lie  v/ell  established,  and  hoary  with  age, 

Resists  the  assaults  of  the  boldest  seceder ; 
While  he  is  accounted  the  greatest  of  saints 

Who  silences  reason  and  and  follows  the  leader. 
Whenever  a  mortal  has  dared  to  be  wise, 

And  seized  upon  truth  as  the  soul's  "Magna  Charta," 
He  alwa^'S  has  won  from  the  lovers  of  lies. 

The  name  of  a  fool  or  the  fate  of  a  martyr. 

There  are  popular  lies,  and  political  lies. 

And  lies  that  stick  fast  between  buying  and  selling, 
And  lies  of  politeness — conventional  lies — 

Which  scarcely  are  reckoned  as  such  in  the    telling. 
There  are  lies  of  sheer  malice,  and  slanderous  lies. 

For  those  who  delight  to  peck  filth  like  a  pigeon; 
But  the  oldest  and  far  most  respectable  lies 

Are  those  that  are  told  in  the  name  of  religion. 

Theolog}'  sits  like  a  tj-rant  enthroned, 

A  system  per  sc  with  a  fixed  nomenclature. 
Derived  from  strange  doctrines,  and  dogmas,  and  creeds, 

At  war   with    man's   reason,    with    God   and    with 
Nature ; 
And  he  who  subscribes  to  the  popular  faith. 

Never  questions  the  fact  of  Divine  inspiration. 
But  holds  to  the  Bible  as  absolute  truth. 

From  Genesis  through  to  St.  John's  Revelation. 

We  mock  at  the  Catholic  bigots  at  Rome, 

Who  strive  with  their  dogmas  man's  reason  to  fetter, 

But  we  turn  to  the  Protestant  bigots  at  home. 

And  we  find  that  their  dogmas  are  scarce  a  whit  better. 


A.vn  I.IHKKAI,    IJ-X'TTRKS.  83 

We  are  called  to  believe  in  the  wrath  of  the  Lord. 

In  endless  damnation,  and  torments  infernal, 
While  around  and  above  us  the  infinite  truth, 

Scarce  heeded  or  heard,  speaks  sublime  and  eternal. 

It  is  sad — but  the  day-star  is  shining  on  high, 

And  science  conies  in  with  her  conquering    legions, 
And  every  respectable  time-honored  lie. 

Will  fly  from  her  face  to  the  mythical  regions. 
The  soul  shall  no  longer  with  terror  behold 

The  red  waves  of  wrath  that  leap  up  to   engulf  her, 
For  science  ignores  the  existence  of  hell, 

And  chemistry  finds  better  use  for  her  sulphur. 

We  may  dare  to  repose  in  the  beautiful  faith. 

That  an  Infinite  Life  is  the  source  of  all  being, 
And  tho'  we  must  strive  with  delusion  and  death. 

We  can  trust  to  a  love  and  a  wisdom  far-seeing; 
We  may  dare  in  the  strength  of  a  soul  to  arise, 

And  walk  where  our  feet  shall  not  stumble  or  falter; 
And,  freed  from  the  bondage  of  time-honored  lies, 

To  lav  all  wc  have  on  Truth's  sacred  altar. 


84  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 


PAT  AND  THE  PIG. 


We  have  heard  of  a  Pat  so  financially  flat 

That  he  had  neither  money  or  meat, 
And  when  hungry  and  thin,  'twas  whispered  by  sin 

That  he  ought  to  steal  something  to  eat. 

vSo  he  went  to  the  sty  of  a  widow  near  by. 
And  he  gazed  on  the  tenant — poor  soul! 

"Arrah  now,"  said  he,  "what  a  trate  that'll  be," 
And  the  pig  of  the  widow  he  stole. 

In  a  feast  he  joined;  then  he  went  to  the  judge; 

For,  in  spite  of  the  pork  and  the  lard. 
There  was  something  within  that  was  sharp  as  a    pin, 

For  his  conscience  was  pricking  him  hard. 

And  he  said  with  a  tear,  "Will  yer  reverence  hear 

What  I  have  in  sorrow  to  say?" 
Then  the  story  he  told,  and  the  tale  did  unfold 

Of  the  pig  he  had  taken  awa}-. 

And  the  judge  to  him  said,  "Ere  you  go  to  bed, 
You  must  pay  for  the  pig  you  have  taken; 

For  'tis  thus,  by  my  soul,  3'ou'll  be  saving  j'our   soul, 
And  will  also  be  saving  your  bacon." 


AND  ijiiiCKAi,  i.i;c'ri-kK.s.  .^5 

"Oh,  bejabers,"  said  Pat,  "I  can  niver  do  that — 

Not  the  ghost  of  a  hap'orth  have  I — 
And  I'm  wretched  indade  if  a  penny  it  nade 

Any  pace  for  my  conscience  to  bny." 

Then  in  sorrow  he  cried,  as  the  judge  replied, 
"Only  think  how  you'll  tremble  with  fear, 

When  the  Judge  you  shall  meet  at  the  great  judgment 
seat. 
And  the  widow  you  plundered  while  here." 

"Will  the  widow  be  there?"  whispered  Pat  with  astaie, 
"And  tlie  pig?  by  my  sowl,  is  it  thru?/ 

"They  will  sureh'be  there."  said  the  judge,  "I  declare, 
And.  oh  Paddy!  what  then  will  you  do?" 

"Man>-  thanks,"  answered  Pat,    "for   your   tellin'    me 
that; 

May  the  blessings  upon  you  be  big  I 
On  that  settlement  day  to  the  widow  I'll  say. 

'Mrs.  Flannegan,  here  is  your  pig!'  " 


86  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


I  HAVE  DRAMK  MY  LAST  GLASS. 


No,  comrades,  I  thank  you — not  an}'  for  me; 
My  last  chain  is  riven,  henceforward  I'm  free! 
I  will  go  to  my  home  and  my  children  to-night 
With  no  fumes  of  liquor  their  spirits  to  blight; 
And,  with  tears  in  my  eyes,  I'll  beg  my  poor  wife 
To  forgive  me  the  wreck  I  have  made  of  her  life. 
I  have  never  refused  you  before?     Let  that  pass. 

For  I've  drank  my  last  glass,  boys, 

I  have  drank  my  last  glass. 

Just  look  at  me  now,  boys,  in  rags  and  disgrace. 
With  m}'  bleared,  haggard  eyes,  and  my    red,    bloated 

face; 
Mark  my  faltering  step,  and  my  weak,    palsied    hand, 
And  the  mark  on  my  brow  that  is  worse    than    Cain's 

brand; 
See  the  crownless  old  hat,  and  my  elbows   and    kness. 
Alike,  warmed  by  the  sun,  or  chilled    by    the   breeze. 
Why,  even  the  children  will  hoot  as  I  pass; 
But  I've  drank  my  last  glass,  boys, 
I  have  drank  my  last  gla.ss. 

You  would  hardly  believe,  boys,  to  look  at  me  now 
That  a  mother's  soft  hand  was  pressed  on  my  brow; 
When  she  kissed  me,  and  blessed  me,  her  darling,  her 
pride, — 


AND  ijhi:kai.  i.i:cTrKi':s.  S7 

Kre  she  laid  clown  to  rest  by  my  dead  fatlier's  side; 
But  with  love  in  her  eyes,  she  looked  up  to  the  sky, 
Bidding  me  meet    her    there,    and    whispered,    "(inod 

bye. ' ' 
And  I'll  do  it,  God  helping!     Your  smile  I  let  pass, 

For  I've  drank  my  last  glass,  boys, 

I  have  drank  my  last  glass. 


Ah!  I  reeled  home  last  night — it  was  not  very  late, 
For  I'd  spent  my  last  sixpence,    and    landlords   won't 

wait 
On  a  fellow,  who's  left  every  cent  in  their  till. 
And  has  pawned  his  last  bed,  their  coffers  to  fdl. 
Oh,  the  torments  I  felt,  and  the  pangs  I  endured! 
And  I  begged  for  one  glass — just  one  would  have  cured; 
But  they  kicked  me  out  doors!     I  let  that,    too,    pass, 

For  I've  drank  my  last  glass,  boys, 

I  have  drank  mv  last  glass. 


At  home,  my  pet  Susie,  with  her  rich  golden  hair, 
I  saw  through  the  window,  just  kneeling  in  prayer; 
From  her  pale,   bony    hands,    her   torn    sleeves    were 

strung  down. 
While  her  feet,  cold    and    bare,    shrank    beneath     her 

.scant  gown; 
And  she  prayed — prayed  for  bread,  just    a    poor   crust 

of  bread, — 
For  one  crust,  on  her  knees,  my  pet  darling  plead  ! 
And  I  heard,  with  no  penny  to  buy  one,  alas  ! 
Hut  I've  drank.my  last  glass,  boj-s, 
I  have  drank  niv  last  glass.  6 


88  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

For  Susie,  my  darling,  my  wee  six-year  old. 
Though  fainting  with  hunger  and  shivering  with  cold, 
There  on  the  bare  floor  asked  God  to  bless  me  ! 
And  she  said,  "Don't  cry,  mamma  !      He  will,  for  you 

see, 
I  believe  what  I  ask  for  !"     Then  sobered  I  crept 
Away  from  the  house;  and  that  night,  when  I  slept, 
Next  my  heart  lay  the    Pledge  !     You   smile;    let    it 
pass. 

For  I've  drank  my  last  glass,  boys, 

I  have  drank  ni}-  last  glass. 

My  darling  child  saved  me  !     Fler  faith  and   her   love 

Are  akin  to  my  dear  sainted  mother's  above  ! 

I  will  make  my  words  true,  or  FU  die  in  the  race. 

And  sober  I'll  go  to  ni}-  last  resting  place; 

And  she  shall  kneel  there,  and,   weeping,    thank    God 

No  drunkard  lies  under  the  daisy-strewn  sod  ! 

Not  a  drop  more  of  poison  my  lips  shall  e'er  pass, 

For  I've  drank  my  last  glass,,  bo}'S, 

I  have  drank  my  last  g-lass.. 


AND  LIHICKAI,  I.KCTURES.  S9 


COMPEMSATION. 


There  is  a  deeper  sense  of  seeing 
Into  the  mysteries  of  being 

Than  appears  upon  the  surface  of  our  life; 
And  a  greater  depth  of  meaning 
For  those  who  life's  fields  are  gleaning 

Mid  scenes  of  sorrow  and  of  strife. 

There  are  minds  with  power  gifted, 
And  as  with  inspiration  lifted 

Above  the  common  level  of  perception, 
Have  grasped  the  secret  of  compensation. 
A  new  and  better  revelation 

Of  which  the  world  had  no  conception. 

There  are  those  who  live  in  sadness. 

Whose  hearts  are  never  touched  with  gladness, 

And  yet  their  life  is  not  in  vain; 
For  while  they  wait,  with  patience  keeping 
All  the  energies  of  .'^oul  from  sleeping, 

Are  gath'ring  treasure  of  immortal  gain. 

For  we  build  our  spirit  mansion 
By  our  soul  and  mind's  expansion, 

Through  all  the  lessons  earth  can  give: 
No  vicarious  atonement  can  displace 


go  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

A  law  of  being,  or  one  act  erase 
From  the  record  of  the  life  we  live. 

We  have  been  taught  in  song  and  story 
Of  a  land  of  life  and  glory, 

Where  saints  immortal  reign; 
And  with  joyful  hearts  they  sing. 
Making  Heaven's  high  arches  ring 

With  the  praises  of  His  name. 

And  that  Jesus  saves  the  sinner. 
Who  by  faith  in  him  as  winner 

Of  peace  and  happiness  above; 
And  that  the  light  of  reason 
Is  nothing  less  than  treason, 

To  the  God  of  life  and  love. 

Is  it  true  or  is  it    fiction, 

That  Heaven  is  gained  by  our  restriction 

Of  the  highest  boon  to  mortals  here  below? 
Or  was  the  torch  to  mankind  given 
To  light  his  path  from  earth  to  Heaven, 

And  that  good  from  evil  he  might  know? 

Did  God  inspire  this  plan  for  our  salvation, 
From  utter  darkness  and  damnation? 

Then  want  of  brains  must  be  a  favor; 
And  knowledge  gained  almost  a  crime. 
And  culture  but  a  waste  of  time. 

If  blind  faith  and  ignorance  is  savior. 

And  is  Heaven  a  sepulchre  of  the  mind 
In  which  dwarfed  intellects  will  find 


AND  i,ihi-:kai.  i.i;cTikKS.  91 

A  place  of  endless  rest  and  inanition; 
Without  an  impulse  of  the  soul 
To  reach  a  higher,  better  goal? 

This  then  is  orthodox  salvation. 

How  vastly  different  is  Nature's  plan, 
Providing  endless  growth  for  man 

In  all  the  attributes  of  mind; 
And  ever>-  impulse  of  the  soul, 
Thro'  Nature's  law  finds  full  control 

In  higher  life  by  love  divine. 

There's  a  golden  thread  of  compensation  just 
In  which  a  universe  of  souls  can  trust. 

As  none  have  lived  utterly  depraved  in  mind; 
None  with  perfection  which  the  preachers  teach, 
Which  to  mortals  is  far  beyond  their  reach. 

Wh\-  not  .some  saving  grace  for  all  mankind. 

This  then  shall  life's  harvest  >ield, 
To  the  bus}'  reapers  in  the  field, 

One  law  for  all  both  great  and  small; 
There's  good  for  the  .saint  and  sinner. 
There's  good  for  the  loser  and  winner, 

And  a  just  compensation  for  all. 


92  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


THE    SCARLET    WOMAN- 


There  are  those  no  doubt  who  do  not  feel  and  see 
the  full  significance  of  this  subject.  But  there  are 
many  to-day  all  over  the  land  who  can  read  the  signs  of 
the  times  and  can  see  the  importance  of  vigilence  in 
preserving  the  free  institutions  which  make  our  own 
dear  country  the  pride  and  glory  of  all  the  nations, 
and  to  my  mind  all  tendencies  which  run  counter  to 
free  government  should  be  corrected  in  their  incipient 
stages  lest  they  culminate  and  bear  the  bitter  fruits  of 
anarchy  and  bloodshed. 

The  enfranchisement  of  our  race  has  been  a  life  long 
struggle.  lyiberty  has  always  had  bitter  enemies  and 
has  always  struggled  to  maintain  its  existence.  The 
people  of  this  Republic  have  had  some  bitter  experi- 
ences in  preserving  our  liberty  against  the  blood-red 
hand  of  religious  superstition  and  political  despotism. 
There  are  three  classes  of  people  in  the  world — fore- 
seers,  after-seers  and  no-seers.  Fore-seers  are  intui- 
tive people  and  see  things  in  advance;  after-seers  are 
clever  people  who  take  the  bull  by  the  horns  when  he 
arrives;  no-seers,  a  large  class,  who  can't  see  and  won't 
near,  but  like  the  pig  under  the  gate,  are  good  feelers 
when  the  calamity  falls  upon  them. 

Romanism  is  an  outgrowth  and  perversion  of  ancient 
Christianity  or  the  religion  of  Jesus,   with    whose   reli- 


AND  IJH1-;KA1<    I.IXTl'KKS.  CfT,. 

j;ion  I  have  no  fault  to  rind.  Karly  Christianity  was 
a  simple  religion  of  goodness,  enjoining  three  things — 
veneration  to  God,  in  personal  life  purity,  and  in 
social  life  benevolence.  Within  these  three  points 
early  Christianity  found  its  full  limit.  Tertulian  sets 
forth  in  an  able  and  concise  manner  what  Christianity 
was  two  hundred  years  after  Christ — a  religion  of 
goodness,  a  simple  and  natural  religion,  without  any 
claim  to  infallibility,  .supposed  to  be  an  improvement 
upon  Judaism,  as  being  relieved  from  the  burdens  of 
rites  and  ceremonial  usages — just  as  the  religion  of 
Wesley  was  supposed  to  be  an  improvement  upon  the 
Church  of  England — a  return  to  a  greater  simplicity 
and  purity  of  life;  as  you  will  remember  that  this 
church  u.sed  to  hold  service  in  the  morning,  and  race 
horses  and  fight  roosters  in  the  afternoon.  vSo  Jesus 
sought  to  tear  down  priest-craft  and  lift  the  people 
into  the  sunlight  of  a  natural  religion,  a  veneration  ftir 
deity  and  a  love  for  humanity. 

While  Christianity  was  a  religion  of  goodness  atid 
benevolence,  it  was  persecuted.  Gaining  in  numbers 
and  .strength  it  spread  rapidly,  as  any  religion  will 
under  persecution.  Just  as  Mohamedanism  was  at 
the  first  a  simple  religion,  a  struggle  for  the  unity  of 
God,  under  persecution  lost  its  temper  and  grasped  the 
sword.  From  this  small  beginning  we  may  .see  what 
Christianity  became  when  in  po.ssession  of  imperial 
power  under  that  intriguing  bad  man  Constantinc,  the 
first  Christian  ICmperor — who  became  a  convert  to 
Christianity,  but  not  a  convert  to  virtue  and  goodness. 
Being  a  pagan  at  heart,  says  the  historian,  he  made 
constant  concessions  to  paganism,  and  thus  adding 
manv  new  doctrines  to  Christianit\-  in  order    to    make 


94  FREE  THOUGHT    POEMS 

himself  popular  with  the  people  of  his  empire.  Thus 
an  amalgamation  of  Christianity  with  paganism  took 
place,  and  as  the  years  passed  on  the  simple  religion 
of  Jesus  and  Tertulian  became  merged  with  and  cor- 
rupted by  the  paganism  in  which  it  grew  up.  This 
great  change  in  Christianity  under  Constantine  and 
his  family  presented  it  to  the  world  as  a  political  and 
civil  power,-  and  instead  of  a  simple  religion  of  per- 
suasion it  became  a  religion  of  brute  force— an  eccle- 
siastical despotism  backed  up  bj^  the  State. 

With  Constantine  ended  the  religion  of  Jesus,  and 
Romanism  began  with  its  councils,  controversies,  and 
anathamas,  while  war  and  bloodshed  held  high  carni" 
val  over  the  once  simple  and  beautiful  religion  of  the 
early  Christians.  Thus  this  paganized  Christian 
church  set  herself  forth  as  the  depository  of  all  knowl- 
edge— secular  and  religious,  and  thus  became  a  scourge 
and  stumbling  block  to  the  intellectual  progress  of  all 
Europe. 

And  thus  we  find  Romanism  to-day  the  sworn 
enemy  of  free  government,  free  schools  and  human 
libert}-,  and  one  almost  needs  to  offer  an  apology  for 
presenting  this  subject.  But  for  the  extreme  arro- 
gance of  her  claims  in  the  dogma  of  the  Pope's  infalli- 
bility and  her  attitude  to  our  school  s^^stem,  it  were 
almost  a  burlesque  in  the  light  of  the  nineteenth 
centur3\ 

Romanism  says  that  she  is  not  understood,  and  is 
misrepresented  as  to  the  Pope's  power  and  the  scope 
of  his  infallibilit3^  She  sa3^s  that  when  the  Pope 
speaks  in  excathedra,  then  is  he  an  infallible  teacher 
in  faith  and  morals.  That  is  to  sa}-,  he  is  not  God  all 
the  time.     When  he  takes  his  little  doer  and  walks  out 


AM)  I.IHHUAI.   MCCTIKICS.  95 

to  smoke  his  pipe  in  the  {garden,  then  lie  is  not  God. 
but  when  he  is  clothed  in  his  scarlet  and  ])nrple  robe 
and  three-cocked  hat  and  sits  in  his  big  chair,  then  is 
he  the  eternal  God.  What  a  God  to  be  sure,  in  spots 
and  spasms.  This  term  e.K cathedra,  .says  the  church, 
is  not  in.spiration  in  the  ordinary  sense,  but  is  assist- 
ance from  God  of  a  higher  order  than  that  which  pro- 
duced the  Bible,  so  as  to  be  able  to  interpret  this  will 
of  God  to  a  dying  world,  and  that  the  church  uses 
chrystalized  terms  to  express  her  doctrines,  and  we 
simply  need  to  bow  to  this  mystery  of  Godhness. 

The.se  terms  are  capable  of  a  A-ariety  of  definitions, 
as  you  will  see  by  reading  Gladstone's  tract  on  the 
Vatican  decrees.  The  purjiose  of  this  tract  was  to 
show  that  the  Church  of  Rome  in  the  \'atican  council 
had  resorted  to  all  .sorts  of  religious  tricker>'  and  had 
committed  gross  ofFen.ses  against  the  civil  authority 
and  civil  freedom,  because  the  claims  of  infallibility 
asserted  by  the  Pope  and  council  are  such  as  to  place 
civil  allegiance  at  his  mercy,  and  that  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance by  a  Catholic  to  any  civil  government,  is  not 
worth  the  Intttons  on  the  back  of  his  coat  v.'hen  in  con- 
flict with  Rome.  Mr.  Gladstone  .shows  clearly  that 
the  dogma  of  infallibility  is  virtually  the  divine  title 
to  command  and  the  absolute  duty  to  obey,  not  onl\ 
in  faith  and  morals,  but  covers  every  act  in  a  man's 
life,  .secular  and  religious,  and  establishes  at  once  an 
ecclesiastical  despotism  over  soul  and  body.  He  fur- 
ther .shows  that  within  twenty  years  pa.st  there  has 
been  six  clearly  defined  cases  of  interference  by  the 
Pope,  wherein  the  Pope  of  Rome  declared  the  properly 
constituted  civil  law  of  the  land  null  and  void.  The.se 
laws  referred  to  freedom  of  the  press,  freedom  of  opinion 


96  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 

and  speech,  of  conscience  and  belief,  of  science  and 
education,  and  laws  relating  to  the  marriage  relations. 
All  of  these  laws,  the  Pope  declared,  were  abominable 
laws  and  are  null  and  void  in  their  effect,  and  nia}'  be 
trampled  upon  by  good  Catholics  everywhere.  Thus 
none  but  the  most  obtuse  will  fail  to  see  that  the  scope 
of  Papal  power  includes  the  entire  range  of  human 
action. 

We  listened  to  a  lecture  not  long  since  by  a  promi- 
nent Catholic  Bishop,  in  which  he  exhibited  the  most 
bitter  hatred  of  Draper  and  his  book  entitled  science 
and  religion,  denouncing  him  as  a  great  liar.  But  3'ou 
will  find  if  you  will  read  this  book  a  clear  statement  of 
facts,  showing  the  conflict  between  science  and  relig- 
gion  during  the  entire  career  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
He  called  attention  also  to  Mariah  Monks'  book,  which 
he  pronounced  a  tissue  of  lies.  I  have  read  this  book 
and  believe  that  it  sets  forth  truthfully  her  sufferings 
as  a  nun,  and  the  foul  corruption  incident  to  this  un- 
natural condition  of  the  sexes,  abusing  themselves  for 
Christ's  sake,  shut  up  in  a  cloister,  a  kind  of  religious 
prison,  away  from  the  green  fields  and  sunlight  of 
heaven,  under  the  plea  of  sanctification  to  God  and 
the  church. 

I  know  it  is  claimed  thiit  a  criterion  of  truth  in 
morals  and  religion  is  a  need  in  the  world.  If  so  that 
need  has  been  poorly  supplied  by  the  Church  ot  Rome, 
as  histor}^  shows  a  cruel  assumption  of  arbitrarj-  power, 
and  Beecher  well  says  that  the  condut  ot  her  Popes, 
Bishops  and  councils  in  the  administration  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  for  twelve  hundred  years  was  more 
befitting  that  of  devils  than  of  honest  men. 

Can  a  church  at  enmitv  with    human    freedom,    and 


AND  I.IUKKAI,  I.KCrrKKS.  97 

which  liurls  its  curses  at  every  form  of  inil>eHef.  Ijc  a 
guide  to  heaven.  Look  at  the  sylabus,  what  a  fearful 
-tring  of  Christian  curses  against  all  who  dare  to  doubt 
iier  dogmas.  Let  him  be  anathama-maranatha  who 
shall  deny  the  one  true  God — that  is  to  say  the  Catholic 
God.  Why  should  any  one  be  cursed  for  not  holding 
their  conception  of  deity.  What  does  the  Pope  know 
of  God  more  than  others?  Can  the  finite  grasp  the  in- 
finite, life  of  our  life  and  soul  of  our  soul?  What  a 
base  hypocrisy  and  blasphemy  is  this.  Let  him  be 
accursed  wdio  affirms  that  nothing  besides  matter  exists. 
Why  should  any  one  be  cursed  for  denying  anything 
and  everything  beyond  his  senses  of  hearing,  seeing, 
smelling,  feeling  and  tasting.  Any  and  all  things  be- 
vond  the  reach  of  my  senses  is  the  realm  of  fancy.  If 
there  is  anything  besides  matter  we  don  t  know  it. 
There  may  be  one  God  or  a  thousand  Gods.  There 
niay  be  angels  and  devils  but  we  don't  know  it.  Let 
us  mind  our  own  business  and  let  God  take  care  of 
his  business.  Let  him  be  accursed  who  .shall  say  that 
iiuman  reason  is  independent  of  faith.  Why  should 
one  be  cursed  for  the  use  of  his  reason,  the  only  light 
given  to  man  whereby  he  can  discover  truth,  and  which 
lifts  him  above  the  brute  creation. 

Now  a  religion  that  can  sling  its  curses  about  in 
such  a  fearful  way  must  be  a  dangerous  element  in 
anv  country,  and  it  does  seem  to  me  if  I  were  the 
almighty  God,  and  had  a  never  dying  grudge  against 
the  peace,  prosperity  and  moral  life  on  this  planet.  I 
would  pour  out  upon  it  a  full  baptism  of  such  a  relig- 
ion as  the  Roman  Catholic  religion.  I  don't  wonder 
that  fourteen  hundred  years  ago  Hypathia.  the  lady 
philosopher  and  literar\-  belle  of  Alexadria.    was   torn 


98  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

from  her  carriage,  her  flesh  scraped  from  her  bones 
and  cast  into  the  fire.  I  don't  wonder  that  poor  Bruno 
and  Vanini  died  at  the  stake  at  the  hands  of  those 
Catholic  devils.  I  was  not  surprised  when  I  heard  of 
the  recent  massacre  at  San  Miguel  and  San  Salvador, 
as  this  hellish  outrage  was  urged  on  b}-  priests  and 
bishop.  Each  fiend  was  armed  with  a  document,  found 
on  their  bodies,  which  read  thus:  Peter,  open  the 
gates  of  heaven  to  the  bearer.  Signed  George,  Bishop 
of  San  Salvador,  and  sealed  with  the  seal  of  this 
Episcopal  See.  Thus  armed,  these  fiends  of  religious 
hate  left  no  outrage  undone  which  such  a  cursed 
religion  could  suggest,  even  to  the  cutting  in  pieces 
the  dead  bodies  of  their  victims  and  throwing  them  at 
each  other.  So  it  is  all  over  South  America  and 
Mexico  to-day  where  political  Romanism  lifts  its  bloody 
head. 

Religious  superstition  is  the  same  in  spirit  every- 
where and  in  all  periods  of  time,  using  its  deadly  fangs 
whenever  in  possession  of  sufficient  power.  Even  in 
our  own  fair  land  we  have  the  blood}^  record  of  the 
Mountain  Meadow  Massacre  at  the  hands  of  the  Mor- 
mon Church,  where  defenseless  men,  women  and  babes 
were  .slaughtered  in  cold  blood  for  God's  sake.  And 
when  Lee,  the  religious  devil  who  led  this  band  of  cut 
throats,  sat  upon  his  coffin  waiting  for  the  bullets  which 
were  to,  send  him  to  glory,  a  sickly  smile  overspread 
his  face  while  he  declared  that  he  was  going  home  to 
Jesus  and  was  .so  glad  that  he  did  not  die  an  infidel. 
Great  God,  so  am  I  glad  that  no  foul  stain  rests  upon 
the  head  of  infidelity  or  unbelief. 

Now  I  have  no  need  to  quote  from  anti-Catholic 
sources  to  .show  the  animas  which  pervades  Romanism, 


AND  I.IHKKAI,  I.KCTIKKS.  99 

ami  will  refer  you  to  Bronson's  Catholic  review,  an 
able  exponent  of  the  Catholic  Church,  which  declares 
that  any  system  of  education  based  upon  the  popular 
idea  that  man  is  naturall}-  perfect,  and  may  by  cul- 
ture develop  himself  into  right  relations  with  the  good 
and  true,  is  a  hateful  lie,  and  then  adds  a  quotation 
from  Carlyle,  that  the  first  of  all  gospels  is — that  no 
lie  shall  live.  Now  then  when  a  church  numbering 
millions,  and  by  far  the  most  effective  system  of  one 
man  power  the  world  has  ever  seen — a  power  amount- 
ing to  an  absolute  despotism  over  soul  and  body — tells 
us  that  our  government  is  a  lie  and  that  our  schools 
and  colleges  are  hot-beds  of  vice  and  corruption,  and 
that  our  marritvge  is  legal  adultery,  we  are  not  slow  to 
see  the  deadly  blow  aimed  at  the  free  institutions  of 
our  countrw  And  only  a  few^  months  since  a  promi- 
nent Catholic  priest  over  one  of  the  largest  churches 
on  this  coast,  threatened  to  refuse  absolution  to  any 
Catholics  sending  their  children  to  Protestant  schools, 
showing  clearly  the  attitude  of  this  holy  church  to  our 
schools  to  be  that  of  a  bitter  enemy,  and  no  one  need 
doubt  for  a  moment  the  intention  of  the  Papal  power 
to  crush  our  schools  and  thus  destroy  human  freedom 
at  its  citadel.  If  any  are  in  doubt  of  this  let  them  re- 
view our  .school  history  for  thirty-five  years  past,  be- 
ginning with  the  bitter  fight  made  by  Bishop  Hughes, 
thirty-five  years  ago,  for  a  division  of  the  school 
money.  Our  people  became  alarmed,  and  in  1842  a 
law  was  passed  against  the  division  of  our  school 
money  for  sectarian  schools,  and  with  a  dogged  per- 
sistence known  only  to  Romanism  they  have  waged  a 
constant  war  upon  our  schools  from  that  time  to  the 
present  day. 


lOO  FREK-THOUGHT  POEMS 

In  spite  of  law  and  constitutional  amednment  Catho- 
lics have  drawn  from  the  city  of  New  York  alone  mil- 
lions of  dollars  for  sectarian  purposes  within  the  past 
few  years.  We  speak  of  Catholic  inroads  in  New 
York  as  a  pointer  to  ever}'  other  State  in  the  Union, 
for  this  Papal  deviltr}'  means  a  clean  sweep  of  all  free 
institutions.  Failing  in  open  and  direct  effort  to  break 
down  our  schools,  she  is  not  conquered,  but  resorts  b}- 
corrupting  our  legislation  and  by  a  more  stealthy  cam- 
paign to  accomplish  her  life-long  object. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  President  Grant's  suggestions 
a  few  years  ago  in  regard  to  taxing  church  property 
and  a  constitutional  amendment  which  should  forever 
lift  our  school  system  beyond  the  reach  of  religious 
fanaticism,  was  not  a  moment  too  soon.  Why  not  tax 
all  church  propert}-.  Why  should  infidels  indirectly 
pay  taxes  to  support  a  religion  with  which  they  have 
no  .sympathy.  Look  at  Trinity  Church  property  in 
New  York,  worth  more  than  forty  millions  of  dollars, 
untaxed.  Now  if  this  class  of  property  belongs  to 
God,  and  they  say  he  is  rich  and  owns  the  cattle  and 
sheep  on  a  thousand  hills,  let  him  pay  his  own  taxes 
and  not  shift  the  burden  upon  those  who  have  far  more 
use  for  the  school-master  than  the  priest. 

Now  if  it  were  true,  as  Catholics  claim,  that  our 
school  system  is  a  hot-bed  of  vice  and  crime,  we  should 
find  in  Catholic  countries  greater  prosperity  and  a 
higher  moral  life.  But  on  the  contrary,  where  the 
Catholic  religion  has  ruled  supreme  in  all  the  past,  we 
find  the  greatest  physical  destitution  and  moral  degra- 
dation. Look  at  Italy  and  Spain,  see  South  America 
and  Mexico;  what  a  comment  is  their  moral  status  upon 
Roman  Catholic  virtue. 


AND   I.Il'.ilRAI.  LlvCrrklCS,  lOI 

Where  to-da}-  is  life  and  ])r(Ji)ert\-  most  secure,  in 
vSouth  America  and  Mexico  or  wliere  schools  and  rehu;- 
ion  are  free.  In  Italy  and  Spain,  Catholic  villians  will 
cut  a  throat  for  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents,  in  Mexico 
and  South  America  for  one-half  the  money.  Take  it 
if  you  please  in  this  country,  where  government  and 
schools  aie  secular,  and  how  does  the  moral  status  ot 
Protestants  and  Catholics  compare?  Ever>'  fair 
minded  person  must  admit  that  the  Catholic  masses 
bear  no  comparison  with  Protestants,  nor  will  they 
bear  favorable  comparison  with  free  thinkers,  atheists 
or  infidels.  And  to-day  this  Catholic  religion  furnishes 
more  drunkards  and  criminals  than  all  other  sects  com- 
bined. CrO  the  to  police  courts  in  all  the  cities  of  our 
land  on  Monday  morning  and  .see  the  long  array  of 
men  with  blood-.shot  eyes  and  bunged-up  noses.  Who 
are  all  these  rag-tags?  God's  wrecks  to  be  sure.  Not 
Jews,  but  they  should  be,  as  they  are  supposed  to  be 
bad — they  killed  Christ.  They  should  be  atheists,  as 
they  are  worse  than  Jews,  and  deny  both  God  and 
Christ.  But  they  are  not  atheists  or  infidels,  nor  yet 
Spirituali.sts  or  Protestant  Christians,  but  are  nearly  all 
of  them  believers  in  God,  Christ  and  the  Holy  Virgin. 
And  this  class  hold  the  balance  of  power  in  all  our 
great  cities,  which  are  fast  losing  every  feature  of 
Americanism.  And  yet  in  the  light  of  these  facts,  this 
Catholic  mother  of  abominations — this  old  beast  of 
.seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  with  the  blood  of  millions 
on  her  hands,  persistently  denounces  Protestant  insti- 
tutions as  corrupt  and  immoral. 

Now  we  make  no  fight  against  foreigners  as  such, 
and  only  against  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  which 
says  that  all  power  is  from  God  handed  down   through 


I02  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

the  Pope,  bishops  and  priests,  for  the  government  of 
men  and  nations.  There  is  in  this  statement  the  es- 
sence of  supreme  deviltr}-.  This  cla.ss  who  owe  alle- 
giance to  the  Pope  of  Rome  are  not  true  Americans 
and  cannot  be.  To  be  forewarned  is  to  be  forearmed. 
I  would  not  cast  a  vote  for  one  of  this  class.  I  would 
place  onl}'  Americans  in  spirit  on  guard  to  protect  our 
liberty.  This  was  the  doctrine  ot  Washington  and  is 
the  true  watchword  of  American  liberty  to-day. 

This  holy  church  claims  the  divine  right  to  rule  our 
State  and  schools  and  professes  a  high  Christian  moral- 
ity. But  there  is  a  broad  difference  between  Christian 
morality  and  the  morality  of  nature.  Are  Catholic 
priests  more  moral  than  other  people?  To  my  mind 
their  vow  of  celibac}'  is  a  crime  against  God  and 
human  nature,  or  a  sham  and  hypocrisy;  take  either 
form  3'ou  please.  It  is  commonly  supposed  that  a  good 
wife  helps  a  man  to  be  morally  clean,  and  if  there  is 
any  class  of  men  who  need  the  watch  and  care  of  a 
true  wife,  priests  and  preachers  are  that  class.  Catholic 
priests  are  healthy  people.  Big,  rosy-cheeked  men, 
full  of  life;  they  don't  live  on  brown  bread  and  skim- 
milk.  If  they  were  lean,  lank,  abstemious,  or  sickh' 
men,  I  might  think  there  was  some  truth  in  their  vows 
of  celibacy.  But  they  are  high  livers  and  good  drink- 
ers of  wine  and  strong  drink,  and  yet  they  tell  us 
they  are  holy  celibates  for  Christ's  sake.  What  a  high 
state  of  morality  is  this.  Look  at  these  sisters  and 
nuns  draped  in  black.  Poor  miserable  creatures,  eaten 
and  dried  up  by  morbid  mental  disease — sinning 
against  maternity,  the  highest  gift  of  God  to  woman, 
suppressing  nature  for  the  sake  of  Jesus.  This  the}- 
call  morality.      Look  at    these    holy    red-faced    priests 


AND  LIBKRAI,  LKCTlKKS.  I03 

abusing  nature  thai  tht-y  may  get  nearer  to  the  (iod  of 
nature,  claiming  the  divine  right  to  confess  my  wife 
and  daughter,  coming  in  between  husljand  and  wife 
and  grasping  the  children  with  an  iron  hand,  prying 
into  the  inner  life  and  secrets  of  every  family.  These 
morbid,  unhealthy  people  demanding  the  control  of 
our  schools  and  charging  them  with  moral  depravity, 
denouncing  our  teachers  as  education  mongers,  cor- 
rupters of  youth  and  slaughterers  of  innocence.  Worse, 
said  a  Catholic  bishop,  than  Herod  of  old,  for  he  killed 
only  their  bodies,  but  these  Protestant  teachers  kill 
body  and  soul.  I  feel  like  saying  to  every  Catholic 
priest:  physician  heal  thyself  and  flock;  look  to  your 
confessional;  has  the  fire  or  passion  never  over-leaped 
its  boundary?  Look  to  your  convents  and  niinneries; 
does  the  black  veil  cover  up  in  its  cess-pools  no  slaugh- 
ter of  helple.ss  innocents — victims  of  priestly  sensuality 
and  wickedness;  and  are  all  of  the  priests  and  nuns  not 
to  be  believed  who  have  escaped  from  the  toils  of  this 
unnatural  religion? 

This  same  holy  church  tells  us  that  mixed  schools 
are  an  unmixed  evil  and  should  be  denounced  by  every 
priest  on  the  walls  of  Zion.  What  a  pity  God  should 
have  made  woman  at  all,  as  she  tempted  man  to  sin 
and  thus  brought  death  and  hell.  What  a  pity  the 
experiment  of  creation  had  not  ended  with  Adam.  I 
have  been  led  to  suppose  that  the  company  of  good 
women  elevated  and  sweetened  the  life  of  men,  and  if 
so  in  the  family  and  church,  why  not  in  the  school. 
There  .should  be  a  co-education  of  the  sexes  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave.  To  hold  and  fence  the  sexes 
apart  until  grown  up,  and  then  turned  loo.se,  ignorant 
of  themselves  and  each  other,  is  a  sure    cause   of  vice 


I04  FREH-THOUGHT   P0P:.MS 

and  disorder  in  societ}'.  If  m_v  son  and  daughter  are 
a  lienefit  to  each  other  under  the  same  roof  and  by  the 
same  fire-side,  why  not  in  the  school  and  ever}-  depart- 
ment of  ttfe.  So  the}-  will  bless  each  other  when  thej' 
are  taught  early  in  life  the  right  and  wrong  use  of 
every  function  of  body  and  mind.  The  Catholic 
Church  says  the  education  of  the  3'oung  belongs  to  the 
church.  Let  the  vState  abstain  from  the  control  of  the 
schools,  let  the  State  encourage  the  church ;  in  fact  let 
the  vState  play  second  fiddle  to  the  church  and  all  will 
be  merry  as  a  marriage  bell. 

The  .spirit  and  genius  of  our  government  is  to  pro- 
tect the  people  from  childhood  to  old  age.  The 
children  in  a  broad  sense  belong  to  the  State,  and  the 
natural  right  of  the  child  is  to  be  developed  physicalh-, 
mentally  and  moralh-,  and  the  plain  dut\'  of  the  State 
is  to  furni.sh  such  conditions  as  will  tend  to  the  good 
order  of  society.  The  history  of  the  world  .shows  that 
ignorance  is  the  prolific  mother  of  vice  and  crime.  To 
give  over  the  schools  to  the  church  is  suicide  to  the 
nation.  To  teach  knowledge  is  to  teach  .science,  and 
science  destroys  creeds  and  dogmas.  Hence  the  super- 
ficial character  of  a  Catholic  education  and  the  clamor 
to  control  the  schools.  I  am  surprised  that  an}-  Pro- 
testant, and  much  more  that  any  liberal,  will  .send 
their  children  to  Catholic  schools,  where  the  eye  can't 
turn  but  it  rests  upon  religious  emblems  and  mumery, 
and  the  ear  is  constantly  greeted  with  holy  songs  and 
prayers,  and  every  motion  of  body  and  mind  innocu- 
lated  with  the  virus  of  false  religion.  And  it  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  about  .seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  girls 
sent  to  those  .schools  become  Catholics,  and  in  our 
travels  we  have  met  manv  a  fond  mother  who  has  told 


AXIi   I.IIUCRAI.    fJ'.C  ri'KICS.  KJ5 

us  with  tearful  regrets  the  stor>'  of  Jesuitical  craft, 
and  how  their  children  had  l)een  alienated  from  the 
liarental  heart  and  home. 

And  many  tell  us  that  Catholic  schools  are  so  safe, 
such  a  high  fence  and  every  knot  hole  stopped  that  a 
girl  can't  see  the  boys,  and  nc^t  even  a  crack  left  open 
through  which  she  might  communicate  with  the  oppo- 
site sex.  Yes,  I  know  it  is  a  safe  place.  So  is  a  pri.son 
safe  to  hold  criminals,  but  when  innocent  people  are 
incarcerated  it  breeds  criminalit}-.  So  safe  is  it  I 
would  by  far  a  girl  of  mine  .should  be  expo.sed  to 
almost  an\-  disease  than  Romanism,  for  most  diseases 
are  curable,  but  this  malady  lasts  a  life  time.  And 
as  for  contamination  by  the  opposite  sex  I  would  much 
rather  trust  my  girl  with  an  average  American  boy 
than  with  those  holy  celibate  priests  of  God. 

Our  hope  for  the  future  of  the  civilized  world  is  in 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  not  faith.  The  perpetuity 
of  free  government,  free  speech,  free  .schools  and  moral 
virtue  is  wrapped  up  in  our  system  of  education.  Let 
the  government  be  secular  and  the  schools  be  secular, 
and  intact  from  sectarian  bigotrx'  and  religious  super- 
stition. 


IC6  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


THE  OLD  MAM  GOES  TO  SCHOOL. 


I  know  I'm  too  old  to  learn,  wife,  my  lessons  and  tasks 

are  done, 
The  dews  of  life's  evenin'  glisten  in  the  light  of  life's 

setting  sun. 
To  the  grave  by  the^side  of  my  father's,    they'll   carr)- 

me  soon  away; 
But  I  wanted  to  see  how  the  world   had    grown,    so   I 

hobbled  to  school  to-day. 
I  couldn't  a  told  'twas  a  school  house;  it  towered  up  to 

the  skies; 
I  gazed  on  the  structure   till   dimmer   grew    these    old 

eyes. 
M}'  thoughts  went  back  to  the  log  house — the    school 

house  of  years  ago — 
Where  I  studied  and  romped   with    the    merry    bo}%s, 

who  sleep  where  the  daisies  grow. 

I  was  started  out  ot  my  dreamin'  by  the    tones   of  the 

monster  bell. 
On  these  ears  that  are  grovvin'   deaf,    the    sweet   notes 

rose  and  fell. 
I  entered  the  massive  door,    and   sat   in    the   proffered 

chair — 
An  old  man  wrinkled  and  gray    in    the    midst   of    the 

young  and  fair. 


AM)  MHi;K.\r,  i.HCTrRHs.  107 

Like  a  garden  of  l>looiuiir  roses,  ilic  schoolroom  ap- 
peared to  nie — 

The  children  were  all  so  tidy,  their  faces  so  fnllof  glee; 

They  stared  at  me  when  I  entered,  then  broke  o'er  the 
whisperin'   rule. 

And  said,  with  a  smile  to  each  other,  the  old  man's 
comin'  to  school. 

When  the  country  here  was  new  wife — when  I  was  a 
scholar  lad — 

Our  readin',  writin'  and  spellin'  were  'bout  all  the 
studies  we  had; 

We  cleared  up  tlie  farm  thro'  the  summer,  then  trav- 
el'd  thro'  woods  and  snow. 

To  the  log  house  in  the  openin' — the  school  house  o^ 
years  ago. 

Now.  boys  go  to  .school  in  a  palace,  and  stud>'  hard 
Latin  and  Greek; 

They  are  taught  to  write  scholarly  e.s.says — they  are 
drilled  on  the  stage  to  speak; 

They  go  in  at  the  district  hopper,  but  come  out  thro' 
college  .spout; 

And  this  is  the  way  the  schools  of  our  land  are  grind- 
ing our  great  men  out. 

T<et  'em  grind!  let  'em    grind,    dear  wife!    the    world 

needs  the  good  and  true, 
Let  the  children  out  of  the  old  house  and  trot  "em  into 

the  new; 
r  11  cheerfully  pay  my  taxes,  and  say    to    this    age    of 

mind: 
All  aboard!  go  ahead!  if  vou  leave  the  old  man  behind. 


I08  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

Our  system  of  common  schools  is    the    nation's    glory 

and  crown, 
May  the  arm  be  palsied  ever  that    is    lifted    to    tear   it 

down ; 
If  bigots  cannot  endure  the  light  of  our  glowin'    skies, 
Let  them  go  to  oppressions  shores  where  liberty  bleeds 

and  dies. 

I'm  glad  I  have  been  to-day  in    the    new    house    large 

and  grand; 
With  pride  I  think  of  my    toils    in    this    liberty-lovin' 

land; 
I've  seen  a  palace  arise  where  the  old  log  school  house 

stood, 
And  gardens  of  beauty  bloom  where    the    shadow    fell 

in  the  wood. 
To  the  grave  b}^  the  side  of  ni}^  father's,    they'll    carr\' 

me  soon  away, 
Then  I'll  go  to  a  higher  school  than    the    one    I    have 

seen    to-day; 
Where  the  Master  of  Masters  teacheth — where  scholars 

never  grow  old, 
From  glory  to  glory  I'll  climb,  in  the  beautiful  college 

of  gold. 


\\;)  I  ri!i"R  \i 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  NATURE. 


I  ha\"C  come  from  llic  heart  of  all  natural  things 
Whose  life  from  the  soul  of  the  beautiful  springs; 
Vou  shall  hear  the  sweet  waving  of  corn  in  my    voice. 
And  the  musical  whisper  of  the  leaves  that  rejoice, 
For  my  lips  have  been  touched  by  the  spirit  of  pra\cr. 
Which  lingers  unseen  in  the  soft  summer  air; 
And  the  smile  of  the  sun--hine  that  brightens  llie  skie-, 
Hath  left  a  glad  ray  of  it^  li*<bt.  in  my  eyes. 

On  the  sea-beaten  shore,  mid  the  dwellings  of  men. 

In  the  field,  or  the  forest,  or  wild  mountain  glen; 

Wherever  the  grass  or  a  daisy  could  spring. 

Or  the  musical  laughter  of  childhood  could  ring; 

Wherever  a  swallow  could  build  neath   the  eaves. 

Or  a  s<iuirrel  could  hide  in  his  covert  of  leaves, 

I  have  felt  the  sweet  presence,  and  heard  the  l<iw    call 

Of  the  vSpirit  of  Nature,  which  ([uickens  ns  all. 

Orown  weary  and  worn  with  the  conflict  of  creeds, 
I  ha\-e  sought  a  new  faith  for  the  soul  with   its    necN. 
When  the  love  of  the  beautiful  guided  my  feet 
Through  a  leafy  arcade  to  a  sylvan  retreat. 
Where  the  oriole  sung  in  the  branches  above 
And  the  wild  roses  burned  with  their  blushes  of  love. 
And  the  purple-fringed  aster  and  bright  golden  rod. 
Like  jewels  of  beauty  adorned  the  green  sod. 


no  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

O,  how  blessed  to  feel  from  the  care-laden  heart 
All  the  sorrows  and  woes  that  oppressed  it,  depart, 
And  to  lay  the  tired  head,  with  its  achings,  to  rest 
On  the  heart  of  all  others  that  loves  it  the  best; 
O,  thus  it  is  ever,  when  wearied,  we  yearn 
To  the  bosom  of  Nature  and  truth  to  return, 
And  life  blossoms  forth  in  beauty  anew 
As  we  learn  to  repose  in  the  simple  and  true. 

No  longer  with  self  or  with  Nature  at  strife. 
The  soul  feels  the  presence  of  infinite  life; 
And  the  voice  of  a  child,  or  the  hum  of  a  bee — 
The  somnolent  roll  of  the  deep-heaving  sea — 
The  mountains  uprising  in  grandeur  and  might — 
The  stars  that  look  forth  from  the  depth  of  the    night, 
All  speaks  in  one  language,  persuasive  and  clear. 
To  him  who  in  spirit  is  waiting  to  hear. 

There  is  something  in  Nature  beyond  our  control. 
That  is  tenderly  winning  the  love  of  each  soul ; 
We  shall  linger  no  longer  in  darkness  and  doubt, 
When  the  beauty  within  meets  the  beauty  without. 
Sweet  Spirit  of  Nature!  wherever  thou  art, 
O,  fold  us  like  children,  close,  close  to  thy  heart; 
Till  we  learn  that  thy  bosom  is  truth's  hallowed  shrine, 
And  the  soul  of  the  beautiful  is — the  divine. 


AND  I,n{i;KAI,  I.KCTIKKS. 


THE    PARSON'S    SCHOOL. 


The  autumn  winds  sighed  <,'looniily  without,  hut  the  fire  of 
maple  logs  burned  brightly  within,  and  the  polished  andirons 
reflected  back  the  insinuation  on  their  not  being  as  old  as  the 
logs  which  rested  upon  their  bars. 

"Don't  imagine  for  one  moment,"  said  the  andirons,  "that 
your  pedigree  is  older  than  ours,  fur  we  were  old  settlers  long 
before  the  Mayflower  sailed  from  England,  and  we  came  over 
with  the  first  families  and  have  etijoyed  high  privileges  ever 
since." 

"Ha,  ha,"  sizzled  the  ma]jle  logs,  "our  ancestors  were  oM 
trees  long  before  Colum1)us  reached  our  shores,  and  we  have 
enjoyed  higher  privileges  than  you,  for  we  have  always  held 
our  heads  very  high,  and  never  till  now,  that  adverse  circuTu- 
stances  have  overtaken  us,  have  we  stooped  to  associate  with 
those  beneath  us." 

"Well,"  said  the  andirons,  "we  will  talk  this  matter  over 
to-morrow.  My  friends,  the  shovel  and  tongs,  know  that  we 
have  always  held  our  heads  high,  and  have  only  mingled  in 
good  society." 

Just  then  the  tongs,  in  the  hands  of  a  fair  lady,  gave  the 
logs  a  punch,  which  sent  a  thousand  sparks  flying  up  the 
chimney  and  the  conversation  was  dropped. 

By  the  side  of  the  fire-place  sat  a  minister  of  a  fashionable 
church.  Upon  his  knee  was  a  popular  literary  magazine.  He 
had  read  and  pondered  long  upon  an  article  which  had  ap- 
peared upon  its  pages.  The  article  in  question  was  an  analysis 
of  the  Christian  religion,  showing  the  steps  by  which  it  had 
'  oine  down  through  the  various  religions  of  the  past,  by  slow- 
gradations,  lopping  off  a  rite  or  ceremony  here  and  adding  a 
new  one  there,  or  giving  it  a  new  name,  until  the  name  of 
Christian  had  been  given  it,  and  the  child  had  been  baptized 
in  blood,  usurped  the  control  of  the  world,  and    its   reign    had 


112  1-n-i  E  E  -  T  H  O I  •  G  H  T   P  O  E  M  S 

been  marked  l)y  faggot,  rack  and  torture.  It  had  only  become, 
as  it  now  claimed  to  be,  a  religion  of  peace,  because  science 
had  shed  its  rays  upon  it,  showing  what  a  deformed  child  it 
w'as,  and  commanding  it  to  behave  itself. 

Long  he  pondered;  he  knew  that  the  article  was  true,  but  it 
pained  him  to  see  its  true  character  exposed  in  this  manner. 
He,  as  before  said,  was  pastor  of  a  fashionable  church,  and  his 
love  for  ease  and  good  living  made  him  a  hypocrite.  It  would 
never  do  to  allow  such  statements  to  pass  unnoticed. 

He  felt  that  it  was  required  of  him  to  reply  to  the  article 
and  show  the  fallacy  of  such  statements  as  were  contained  in 
it.  He  could  easily  doit,  for  but  few  of  the  many  were  read- 
ers of  ancient  history,  and  there  were  Christian  anthoritits 
in  abundance  to  quote  from,  to  prove  the  position  of  the  author 
in  question  untenaVjle.  He  resolved  to  rush  into  the  arena  as 
a  defender  of  the  faith.  Filled  with  this  new  idea  he  retired 
to  his  study,  but  his  mind  was  ill  at  ease.  He  fully  realized 
that  that  which  he  was  about  to  do,  was  an  effort  to  deceive 
the  masses.  He  knew,  for  he  was  a  close  student  of  ancient 
hi.story,  that  the  arguments  and  statements  put  forth  in  that 
article  could  not  be  honestly  refuted.  But  what  had  honesty 
to  do  with  the  case.  He  had  his  reputation  as  a  Christian 
minister  to  sustain;  aud  not  only  his  reputation,  his  position, 
liis  living.  .\s  to  the  teaching  of  the  Church  as  conducted  to- 
day, that  was  quite  another  matter — good  music,  a  good  deal 
of  show  and  a  nice  talk  tople'.se  his  fashionable  audience — 
the  church  was  only  a  placv'  n;' amusement,  under  the  name  of 
sanctity.  But  was  it  making  the  world  any  better?  Did  it 
draw  to  them  those  who  were  hungry  and  ragged,  those  who 
needed  friends?  No.  Those  would  hardly  be  admitted  within 
their  doors,  or  if  admitted,  the  genteel  ushers  would  seat  tliem 
ill  the  most  retired  corner.  What  good  to  the  world,  he  hon- 
estly asked  himself,  are  we  doing?  Instead  of  writing  a  reply 
to  the  periodical,  he  wrote  a  sermon  from  the  text — "What 
good  are  we  doing?"  The  next  Sunday  morning  his  congrega- 
tion were  aroused  from  their  half  drowsy  indifference  by  the 
text.  He  did  not  take  it  from  the  Bible,  but  he  said  the  book 
from  which  he  quoted  his  text  was  the  world.  He  asked, 
what  good  are  we  doing  to  those  whom  our  Master  came  to 
save;  he  who  would  have  all  men  come  unto   him.     What    are 


AND  i.ii!):k.\i,  i,i:cTrKi:s.  ii.^ 

\\c  iloiii}^  to  induce  lliciii  lo  iDiiic-  lo  liiiu.  'rriic,  our  iluni-h 
doors  are  thrown  open,  our  bell  is  run^  invitinjf  all  who  will 
to  come,  but  it  really  means  nothing  more  than  that  we  expect 
to  repeat  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  the  previous  Sun<lavs. 
What  are  we  doing  to  raise  the  fallen,  to  assist  the  jjoor  and 
needy?  True,  we  have  our  Magdalen  asylums,  our  houses  of 
refuge  for  orphans,  we  have  our  jails  andhousesof  correction, 
our  prisons,  our  reformatories,  etc.,  etc.,  but  they  are  in  a 
large  part  supported  by  our  government.  True,  they  make 
places  where  worn  out  and  superannuated  preachers  can  make 
a  good  living. 

But  what  good  are  we  doing,  rung  out  once  again  from  tlu- 
sacred  desk.  We,  individually,  and  I  include  myself  in  the 
interrogatory.  This  beautiful  edifice,  costing  over  half  a 
million,  dedicated  to  him  who  was  poor  and  lowly,  not  having 
wheie  to  lay  his  head.  Supposing  the  money  used  in  the 
erection  of  and  sustaining  this  magnificent  church,  had  been 
devoted  to  manufacturing  purposes,  employing  large  numbers 
of  those  who  are  in  need  of  employment,  erected  cottages  for 
them,  built  schoolliouses  where  their  children  could  receive 
education.  Would  it  not,  I  ask,  be  living  nearer  to  the  teach- 
ings of  him  we  claim  to  serve?  Let  us  take  the  text  honie 
with  us  and  ask  what  good  are  we  doing. 

The  congregation  were  wide  awake,  and  the  question  went 
from  lip  to  lip,  what  is  the  matter  with  our  pastor. 

The  earnestness  manifested  by  the  Rev.  Jason  Marvin,  in 
his  Sabl)alh  morning  sermon,  was  not  lost  upon  his  congrega- 
tion. Many  a  wealthy  pew  holder  asked  himself  the  question 
— what  good  am  I  doing;  and  resolved  to  be  more  watchful  for 
opportunities  to  benefit  others. 

But  the  efforts  of  the  parson  did  not  stop  here.  He  deter- 
mined to  inaugurate  under  the  auspices  of  his  own  church 
(well  satisfied  that  there  was  wealth  enough  at  his  command* 
a  school  for  the  education  of  boys  and  girls;  children  of  the 
(.ulcast  class,  who  infest  the  slums  of  all  large  cities;  and  he 
immediately  laid  his  plans  before  his  official  board  and  asked 
their  co-operation.  It  was  not  long  ere  arrangements  were 
readv  for  the  successful  inauguration  of  the  school.  Com- 
modious buildings  had  been  engaged  and  pleasantly  fitted  up 
for  the  purpose.     Several  teachers  had  been  engaged  and  can- 


114  FREE  THOUGHT  POEMS 

vassers  had  visited  large  numbers  of  families,  soliciting  the  at- 
tendance of  their  children,  generally  with  encouraging  results, 
although  many  of  the  children  had  to  be  clothed  before  they 
conld  appear  at  the  school.  A  dinner  was  provided  daily,  and 
such  a  dinner  as  the  children  were  not  in  the  habit  of  seeing. 

Reports  of  the  school  soon  circulated,  and  large  numbers 
solicited  permission  to  attend  the  school.  Soon  more  exten- 
sive accommodations  had  to  be  provided  for  the  largely  in- 
creased numbers  who  daily  attended. 

In  time  it  was  thought  advisable  to  make  additions  to  the 
school — a  carpenter  shop  for  boys  and  a  sewing  school  for 
girls.  Each  of  these  additions  found  especial  favor  among  the 
larger  pupils.  It  was  not  very  long  ere  a  change  began  to  be 
observable  in  the  neighborhood  where  these  children  lived. 
A  desire  was  manifested  for  better  surroundings;  industrious 
habits  were  formed;  the  dram  shop  was  avoided  by  most  of 
those  who  came  within  the  influence  of  the  school:  and  as  time 
passed,  many  were  the  streams  for  good  which  poured  from 
that  one  effort  to  do  good. 


AM)  I.IHKKAI,  LKCTUKKS. 


WHAT  I  ONCE   THOUGHT. 


I  once  tho't  that  Heaven  was  made  for  the  few; 
That  God  was  as  vengeful  as  Moses,  the  Jew; 
That  milHons  were  doomed  at  his  bidding  to  dwell 
Within  the  dark  Ijounds  of  a  terrible  hell. 
Where  hope  never  enters,  but  ring  on  the  air 
The  weepings  and  wailings  of  endless  despair. 

I  once  thought  the  Bible  was  God's  holy  word; 
That  reason  opposing  should  never  be  heard; 
I  made  it  my  study,  my  every-day  care; 
Its  falsehoods  were  truths,  its  curses  were  prayers; 
To  doubt  was  a  crime  that  could  ne'er  be  forgiven; 
And  faith  was  the  lever  that  raised  us  to  Heaven. 

I  once  thought  Jehovah  Creator  and  Lord. 
And,  bowed  at  his  footstool,  I  feared  and  adored; 
The  deeds  that  a  devil  might  blush  to  commit 
Believed  he  had  done,  for  the  Lord  thought  it  fit. 
The  law  of  right-doing  I  never  dreamed  then 
Applied  unto  gods  even  more  than  to  men. 

I  once  thought  that  death  was  a  monster  accurst. 
Of  evils  the  greatest,  the  last,  and  the  worst; 
His  maw,  so  insatiate,  swallowed  our  race. 
And  left  of  their  beauty  and  glory  no  trace: 


ir6  FRKE  THOUGHT    POKMS 

The  grave  was  a  shadow-land,  cheered  by    no   spring 
Where  sat  on  his  ice-throne  a  skeleton  king. 

I  once  thought  that  earth  was  a  valley  of  tears, — 
A  wilderness- world,  lull  of  sorrow  and  fears; 
That  God's  curse  had  blasted  its  beauty  and  grace, 
And  poisoned  the  fairest  and  best  of  the  race. 
I  wept  as  I  thought  of  his  horrible  ban, 
And  sorrowed  that  God  should  ha^•e  made  nie  a  man, 
Fond  fables  of  childhood!  my  faith  in  j-ou  fled; 
You  lie  in  the  tomb  with  the  dust  covered  dead. 


AND  i.ii!i;kai.  i,i:cTrki-:s.  117 


THE  DSYIL  IS   DEAD. 

Sigh,  priests,  cr\-  aloud,  liau^^  your  pulpits  with  black; 

Let  sorrow  bow  clown  ever\'  head: 
The  good  friend  who  bore  all  }our  sins  on  his  back. 

Your  best  friend,  the  Devil,  is  dead. 

Your  church  is  a  corpse:  \'Ou  are  i;'uardin,i;'  its  tomb; 

The  soul  of  your  system  has  fled; 
That  death-knell  is  tolling  your  terrible  doom; 

It  tells  us  the  Devil  is  dead. 

Twas  knowledge  gave  Satan  a  terrible    blow; 

Poor  fellow  I  he  took  to  his  bed. 
Alas  I  idle  prie.st.  that  such  things  should  be  so; 
Your  master,  the  Devil,  is  dead. 

You're  bid  to  the  t'uneral,  ministers  all: 

We've  dug  the  old  gentleman's  bed: 
Your  black  coats  will  make  a  most  excellent  pall 

To  cover  your  friend  who  is  dead. 

Ay,  lower  him  mournfull>-  into  the  grave: 

Let  showers  of  tear-drops  l)e  shed ; 
Your  business  is  gone;  there  are  no  souls  to  save: 

Their  tempter,  the  Devil,  is  dead. 


Il8  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 

Woe  comes  upon  woe;  you  can  ne'er  get  your  clues; 

Hell's  open,  the  damned  souls  have  fled; 
They  took  to  their  heels  when    they    heard    the    good 
news, — 

Their  jailor,  the  Devil,  is  dead. 

Camp-meetings  henceforth  will  be  needed  no  more; 

Revivals  are  knocked  on  the  head; 
The  orthodox  vessel  lies  stranded  on  shore. 

Her  captain,  the  Devil,  is  dead. 


AND  i.n!i;KAi.  i.i:c'iTRi:s.  119 


THE  OLD  MAN  GOES  TO 'FRISCO. 

Well,  wife,  I've  been  to  'Frisco,  and  called  to  see    the 

boys; 
I'm  worn  out  and  half  deafened    witli    the    tra\el    and 

the  noise, 
vSo  I'll  sit  down  by  the  chimney  and    rest    my    wear_\' 

bones. 
And  tell  you  how  I  was  treated  by  our  aristocratic  sons. 

As  soon  as  I  reached  the  cit\-  I  hunted  up  our  Dan; 

You  know  he's  now  a  celel)rated  wholesale  business 
man; 

I  walked  down  from  the  depot,  but  Dan  keeps  a  coun- 
try seat, 

And  I  thought  to  go  home  witlihim  and  rest  m>-  wear\- 
feet. 

All  the  way  I  kept  a  thinking  how  famous  it  would  be 
To  go  round  the  town    together — my    grown    up    boy 

and  me. 
And  remember  the  old  times,  when  his  little  curly  head 
U.sed  to  cry  out,  "Goodnight,   papa,"   from    his    little 

trundle   bed. 

Dan  was  sitting  by  a  table  and  writing  in  a  ])')(jk: 
He  knowed  me  in  a  minute,  and  he  ga\-e    me    such    a 
look;  S 


I20  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 

He  never  said  a  word  of  you,  but  asked  about  the  grain. 
And  if  I  thought  the  valley  didn't  need  a  little  rain. 

I  did  not  stay  a  great  while,  but  inquired  after  Bob; 
Dan  said  he  lived  upon  a  hill,  I  think  he  called  it  Nob; 
And  when  I  left,  Dan,  in  a  tone  that  almost  broke  me 

down , 
Said:      "Call  and  see  me,  won't  you,  whenever   you're 

in  town." 

It  was  late  that  evening  when  I    found    our    Robbie's 

house; 
There  was  music,  light  and    dancing,    and    a    mighty 

great  carou.se. 
At  the  door  a  blackman  met  me,  and  he  grinned  from 

ear  to  ear. 
Saying,  "  Keerds  of  invitation,  or    you  nebber   get   in 

here." 

I  said  I  was  Rob's  father,  and  with  another  grin 

The   blackman    left    me    standing    and    disappeared 

within. 
Rob  came  out  on  the  porch — he  did  not  order  me  away. 
But  said  he  hoped  to  .see  me  at  his  office  the  next  day. 

Then  I  started  for  the  tavern,  for  I  knowed  there  an}-- 

way 
They  would  not  turn  me  out  so  long's    I'd   money   for 

to  pay. 
And  Rob  and  Dan  had  left  me    about   the    streets    to 

roam , 
And  neither  of  them  asked  if  I'd  money  to  get   home. 


AM)  r.IHHKAK  I.KCTURKS.  121 

It  iiia>-  bo  the  way  of  rich  folks,  I  don't  sa\-  it    i>    not. 
But  \vc  remember   some    tliint^s    Rob    and    Dan    have 

quite  forgot. 
We  did  not  quite  expect  this,  wife,  wlien  twenty  year> 

ago. 
We  mortgaged  our  old  homestead  to  give  Rob  and  Dan 

a  show. 

I  didn't  look  for  Charley,  but  I  happened  just  to  meet 
Him  with  a  lot  of  friends  of  his,   a    coming   down    the 

street. 
I  thought  I'd  pass  on  by  him    for   fear    our    youngest 

son 
Would  .show  he  was  ashamed  of  me,  as  Rob  and    Dan 

had  done. 

But  soon  as  Charley  saw  me,  right  before  them  all. 
Said,  "God  bless  me,  there's  my  father,"  as  loud  as  he 

could  bawl. 
Then  he  introduced  me  to  his  friends   and   sent    them 

all  away. 
Telling  'em  he'd  see  'em  later,  but  was  busy    for   that 

da}'. 

Then  he  took  me  out  to  dinner,   and    axed  about    the 

house; 
About  you  and  Sally's  baby,  and  the  chickens  and  the 

cows; 
He  axed  me  about  his  brothers,    addin'     'twas    rather 

queer. 
But  he  had  not  seen  one  of  them    for  mighty    nigh    a 

year. 


122  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 

Then  he  took  me  to  his  lodging,  in  an  attic  four  stairs 

high; 
He  said  he  Hked  it  better  cause  'twas  nearer  to  the  sky. 
He  said  he'd  only  one  room  but   his   bed   was   pretty 

wide ; 
And  so  we  slept  together — me   and    Charley    side    by 

side. 


Next  day  we  went  together  to   the    great    Mechanics' 

Fair, 
And  some  of  Charley's   pictures   were    on    exhibition 

there. 
He  said  if  he  could  sell  them,  which  he  hoped  to  pretty 

soon. 
He'd  make  us  all  a  visit  and  be  richer  than    Muldoon. 


And  so  two  days  and  nights  we  passed,   and    when     I 

came  away 
Poor  Charley  said  the  time  was  short,  and  begged    for 

me  to  stay; 
Then  he  took  me  in  a  bugg^'    and    drove    me    to    the 

train. 
And  said  in  just  a  little  while  he'd  see  us  all  again. 

You  know  we  thought  our  Charley  would  never  come 

to  much. 
He  was  always  reading  novels,  and  poetry    and    such; 
There  was  nothing  on  the  farm  he  seemed  to    want    to 

do, 
And  when  he  took  to  painting  he  disgusted    me    clear 

throusfh. 


AM)  IJHKKVI,  MXTIKICS.  12;, 

So  we  gave  to  Rob  and  Dan  all  we  had  to  call  our  own, 
And  left  poor  Cliarle\-    penniless    to    make    his    way 

alone. 
He's  only  a  poor  painter — Rob  and    Dan    are    rich     as 

sin, 
But  Charle3''s  worth  the  ])air  of  'em  with  all  their  Ljold 

thrown  in. 

Those  two  grand  men,  dear  wife,  were  once  our    ba])es 

— and  yet 
It  seems  a  mighty  gulf  'Iwixt  them  and  us  is  set; 
And  they'll  never  know  the  old  folks  till  life's  troubled 

journey's  past, 
And  rich  and  poor  are  equal  underneath    the    sod    at 

last. 

And  ma\-  l)e  when  we  all    meet    on     the    resurrection 

morn. 
With  our  earthly  glories  fallen    like    husks    frc^m    the 

ripe  corn: 
When  the  righteous  son    of  man    the    awful    sentence 

shall  have  said, 
The  brightest  crown    that    shines    there     may     be    on 

Charlev's  head. 


124  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


ONLY    WAITIKG. 


Only  waiting  till  the  shadows 

Are  a  little  longer  grown ; 
Only  waiting  till  the  glimmer 

Of  the  day's  last  beam  is  flown; 
Till  the  night  of  earth  is  faded 

From  the  heart  once  full  of  day; 
Till  the  stars  of  heaven  are  breaking 

Through  the  twilight  soft  and  gray. 

Only  waiting  till  the  reapers 

Have  the  last  sheaf  gathered  home; 
For  the  summer  time  is  faded, 

And  the  autumn  winds  have  come. 
Quickly,  reapers,  gather  quickly 

The  last  ripe  hours  of  my  heart. 
For  the  bloom  of  life  is  withered, 

And  I  hasten  to  depart. 

Only  waiting  till  the  angels 

Open  wide  the  mj'stic  gate, 
At  whose  feet  I  long  have  lingered, 

Weary,  poor  and  desolate. 
Even  now  I  hear  the  footsteps. 

And  their  voices,  far  away; 
If  they  call  me  I  am  waiting. 

Only  waiting  to  obey. 


AND  LIHIvKAI,  I.KCTIRKS.  I25 

Only  waiting  till  the  shadows 

Are  a  little  longer  grown; 
Onl}'  waiting  till  the  glimmer 

Of  the  day's  last  beam  is  flown; 
Then  from  out  the  gathered  darkness. 

Holy,  deathless  stars  shall  rise, 
By  whose  light  my  soul  shall  gladly 

Tread  its  pathway  to  the  skies. 


126  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 


THE  TRIUMPH  OF  LIFE. 


Leaves  have  their  glad  recall, 

And  blossoms  open  to  the  south  wind's  breath, 
And  stars  that  set  shall  rise  again,   for  all, 

All  things  shall  triumph  o'er  the  spoiler,   death. 

Day  was  not  made  for  care — 

Eve  brings  bright  angels  to  the  joyous  hearth — 
Night  conies  with  dreams  of  peace  and  visions  fair 

Ot  those  whom  death  could  conquer  not  on  earth. 

When  in  the  festive  hour, 

Death  mingles  poison  with  the  ruby  wine, 
Life  also  comes  with  overwhelming  power, 

Changing  the  deadly  draught  to  life  devine. 

Youth  and  the  opening  rose 

May  vanish  from  the  outward  sight  away, 
But  life  their  inward  beauty  shall  disclose, 

And  rob  the  haughty  spoiler  of  his  prey. 

Leaves  have  their  glad  recall, 

And  blossoms  open  to  the  south  wind's  breath. 
And  stars  that  set  shall  rise  again,  for  all, 

AM  things  shall  triumph  o'er  the  spoiler — death. 


AND  I.IHKKAI,   I.KCTUKKS.  I  27 

We  know  that  yet  again 

Our  loved  and  lost  shall  cross  the  sunnner  sea. 
Bearing  with  them  the  sheaves  of  golden  grain, 

Which  they  have  harvested,  O  life!  with   thee. 

Thy  l^reath  is  in  the  gale 

Who.se  kiss  unseals  the  violet's  azure  eye: 
And  though  the  ro.ses  in  our  path  grow  pale. 

We  know  that  all  things  change,  they  do  not  die. 

Wherever  man  may  roam, 

Thy  presence,  viewless  as  the  summer  air. 
Meets  him  abroad,  or  in  his  peaceful  home. 

And  when  death  calls  him  forth  you,  too.  art  there. 

Thou  art  where  soul  meets  soul. 

Or  where  earth's  noblest  fall  in  battle  strife; 
But  death,  the  spoiler,  yields  to  thy  control; 

Forevermore  thou  art  the  conqueror,  life. 

Leaves  have  their  glad  recall. 

And  blossoms  open  to  the  south  wind's  lireath. 
And  .stars  that  set  shall  ri.se  again,  for  all. 

All  things  shall  triumi:>h  o'er  the  spoiler — death. 


128  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 


DAISY    DEAH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

In  the  shade  of  an  overhanging  tree  in  a  quiet 
suburban  village,  sat  an  aged  man.  The  snows  of 
many  winters  had  bleached  his  locks,  till  they  vied 
with  that  frozen  element  in  whiteness.  At  his  side 
was  seated  a  young  girl.  Her  sweet  blue  eyes  were 
turned  on  him  as  she  patiently  listened  to  the  oft  told 
tale  of  the  crucifiction.  The  Bible  on  the  old  man's 
knees  was  open  to  the  records  as  given  by  Matthew, 
and  as  he  dilated  upon  the  story  his  old  eyes  grew 
dim;  and  tears  coursed  each  other  down  his  furrowed 
cheeks. 

"Grandpa,"  said  the  girl,  "why  did  God  require 
such  a  sacrifice  from  his  own  son?  Would  you  desire 
me  to  die  to  please  you?" 

"Ah,  no,  my  child.  But  God's  ways  are  not  our 
ways.  His  love  for  us  was  so  great  that  he  gave  his 
only  son  for  our  salvation. 

The  young  girl  gazed  thoughtfully  away.  "Grand- 
pa," she  exclaimed,  "I  cannot  understand  it.  We 
read  that  God  made  man  and  pronounced  him 
good;  that  he  blessed  all  the  works  of  his  hands. 
How  then,  could  there  have  been  any  evil  in  the 
world?" 

"Don't  you  know,  my  child,  that  the  serpent 
tempted  the  woman  to  sin?" 


AND  MHICKAI,  I.lXTl'RKS.  I  29 

"Well,  grandpa,  did  not  God  make  the  seqxMit  and 
pronounce  him  good,  only  a  short  time  before?  How 
then,  could  he  have  done  evil?" 

Ah,  my  child,  we  have  no  right  to  (piestion.  Vou 
know  our  pastor  tells  us  it  is  sin." 

"Well,  grandpa,  I  can't  help  thinking,  ami  man\- 
times  I  ask  myself  what  God  made  sin    for   anyway." 

"My  child,  God  did  not  make  sin:  he  is  only  the 
author  of  good." 

"Then  who  did  make  sin?" 

"Why  Satan,  of  course." 

"Well,  where  did  vSatan  come  from,  if  God  did  not 
make  him?" 

"That  is  a  question  I  cannot  answer.  Our  good 
minister  tells  us  that  sin  entered  into  the  world  and 
death  b}-  sin,  and  that  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he 
gave  his  only  .son  to  die  for  us  that  we  might  live." 

"Yes,  I  have  often  heard  him  say  that:  but  it  does 
not  satisfy  me.  It  does  not  look  reasonable,  grandpa. 
The  mini.ster  .says  God  is  better  to  us  than  our  earthh- 
parents.  Now  could  }-ou  become  so  angr)-  towards  me 
and  my  brothers  and  .sisters,  that  you  would  require 
my  father  to  die  so  you  could  become  reconciled  to  us?"" 

"Why  no,  my  child,  what  foolish  ([uestions  you  ask."' 

"Well,  grandpa,  they  don't  .seem  foolish  to  me,  be- 
cau.se  I  want  to  know  the  truth,  and  I  caiuiot  think 
that  God  could  be  so  cruel  as  to  allow  his  son  to  be 
crucified."' 

"My  dear  child,  what  has  put  such  strange    notions 

into  your  head?     You  must  ask  God  to    forgive    you." 

"No,  grandpa;  he  has  given  us  reason,  and  how  can 

we  help  thinking.     Every  time  I    hear    our    minister 


130  FREE  THOUGHT    POEMS 

preach,  it  just  raises  1113'  doubts,  aud  I  wonder  if  he 
believes  it  himself." 

"Oh,  Uncle  Ned,  how  glad  we  are  to  see  3'ou. 
Come  and  sit  down  on  this  cosy  seat." 

"Well,  father,  how  do  you  do  to-daj^?"  said  the 
young  man,  seating  himself  on  the  grass,  "and  how  is 
our  Daisy?  I  think  I  overheard  some  infidel  doctrine 
from  our  little  preacher  as  I  stopped  to  listen.  How 
is  it  father,  is  she  trying  to  convert  you?" 

"Well  Ned,  I  don't  know  where  the  child  gets  her 
strange  ideas.  She  is  alwaj^s  arguing  against  our 
minister.  vSometimes  she  asks  questions  that  he  can- 
not answer,  and  she  is  sure  to  get  the  best  of  him  in 
an  argument,  but  I  think  it  is  ver}-  wrong  in  her  and 
very  wicked  too." 

"Father,  Dais}-  has  got  a  mind  of  her  own,  and  .she 
means  to  do  her  own  thinking,  and  I  think  you  had 
better  not  interfere  with  her.  Young  as  she  is,  she  is  a 
great  reader  and  understands  what  she  reads. ' ' 

"Uncle  Ned,"  said  Daisy,  "have  you  read  the  new 
work  on   "Evolution." 

"Evolution  I  skould  think  was  pretty  dry  reading 
for  a  young  lady.  Yes,  I  have  seen  the  work,  and  to 
me  it  is  exceedingly  interesting.  But  where  did  5'ou 
see  it?" 

"I  bought  it  with  the  mone}'  you  gave  me  for  bon- 
Idous  last  week." 

"Well,  Daisy,  you  are  a  strange  girl." 

"Uncle  Ned,  I  have  heard  that  until  I  am  tired  of 
it.  Why  can't  a  woman  be  supposed  to  think,  and 
reason,  and  form  her  own  conclusions?  I  have  heard 
nothing  preached  all  my  life  but  those  doctrines  which 
I  consider  an  insult  to  woman.     Only    last   week    the 


ANM)  I.IBKKAI,    LKCTlklCS.  I31 

minister  reiniiulcd  ine  that  I  had  better  pay  a  little 
more  heed  to  St.  Paul's  teaching,  just  because  he  could 
not  reply  to  my  argument.  He  said  it  would  be  more 
becoming  to  learn  to  be  a  good  housekeeper,  than  to 
have  my  head  filled  with  such  sill\-  notions;  that  a 
girl  of  my  age  might  even  be  better  employed  with  her 
dolls  than  reading  such  wicked  books  as  I  was  reading. 
And  he  teared  the  church  would  have  to  deal  with  m\- 
father  for  allowing  it.  " 

The  young  lady  in  question  was  the  daughter  of  one 
the  leading  members  in  the  churcli.  Con.sequently. 
the  minister  often  visited  the  family;  but  young  Dais}- 
was  a  source  of  annoyance  to  him.  Her  views  were 
•SO  very  unorthodox,  and  often  he  found  himself  unable 
to  argue  with  her;  and  as  .she  said,  took  refuge  in  im- 
pertinent remarks  upon  her  unlady-like  conduct.  But 
Uncle  Ned,  her  father's  youngest  ]:)rother,  was  her 
friend  and  held  the  same  views  that  she  did. 

While  engaged  in  the  foregoing  conversation,  the 
minister  appeared  upon  the  .scene. 

"And  how  are  my  good  friends  to-day?"  asked  the 
minister.  "And  my  little  Daisy,  I  trust  she  has 
heeded  the  advice  I  gave  her  last  week,  for  I  saw  her 
at  meeting  on  Sunday." 

"Yes,  sir,  I  attended  the  meeting  with  m\-   Father." 

"And  were  you  not  pleased  with  the  sermon?" 

"I  have  no  wish  to  argue  with  you,  sir,  but  as 
you  have  asked  me  I  must  say  that  I  was  not." 

"What  part  of  it  was  not  in  accordance  with  \()ur 
views?" 

"Sir,  you  said  (jod  made  man  in  his  own  image: 
that  he  gave  him  power  over  everything,  and  that 
woman  was  made  for  a  help-meet    for    man.      In   your 


132  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 

argument  you  carried  the  idea  that  woman  was  an 
after- thought  with  God;  that  it  was  unnecessary-  that 
her  education  should  extend  farther  than  to  be  good 
housewives,  and  that  the  reading  of  books,  especiallj' 
of  a  character  to  induce  thought,  was  not  only  a  use- 
less waste  of  time,  but  absolutely  sinful.  You  also 
said  that  the  Bible  was  the  only  book  it  was  necessary 
or  advisable  for  them  to  read. ' ' 

'  'True,  my  dear  young  lady,  I  said  that,  and  if  you 
would  study  St.  Paul,  as  I  have  before  advised  you, 
you  would  find  that  I  was  perfectly  correct;  that  the 
Bible  teaches  young  women  to  be  sober  and  discreet, 
lovers  of  home  and  their  families.  When  they  do  all 
that  they  have  no  time  to  waste  on  the  worse  than 
useless  literature  that  is  now  becoming  so  prevalent, 
in  which  is  taught  that  there  are  other  ways  of  reach- 
ing the  truth  than  b}-  the  study  of  God's  word." 

"Do  3-0U  claim,  sir,  that  the  Bible  is  the  only  word 
of  God." 

"Most  assuredly  I  do.  In  it  we  read  how  God 
.spoke  to  man;  that  he  talked  to  Moses  face  to  face,  and 
gave  to  him  the  commandments,  written  upon  tables 
of  .stone;  that  he  gave  his  son  to  die  for  our  sins;  that 
after  his  resurrection  he  ascended  again  into  heaven, 
his  disciples  saw  him  go,  and  that  since  that  time  no 
one  has  conversed  with  him.  The  Bible  says  that  he 
sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  making  inter- 
ces.sion  for  us.  Oh,  my  dear  child,  I  fear  that  you  are 
in  the  toils  of  the  evil  one." 

"I  was  just  asking  grandpa  who  the  evil  one  is. 
When  God  had  made  everything  and  pronounced  it 
good,  where  did  Satan  come  from?  For  the  Bible  says 
there  was  nothing  made  that  he  did  not  make." 


AND  IJUKRAI.   MvCTfRlCS.  I  53 

"Why  Satan,  my  child,  was  a  rcl)cllious  spirit  and 
God  cast  him  out  of  heaven." 

"Where  do  you  read  that,   sir?" 

"Why,  in  Milton's  Paradise  Lost  we  read  a  full  ac- 
count of  it.  How  Satan  rebelled  and  made  war  in 
Heaven,  and  God  cast  him  out  and  he  was  forty  days 
tailing  and  his  angels  with  him." 

"Why.  sir,  does  not  the  Bible  tell  something  of  that? 
If  everything  was  good,  how  could  there  be  any  evil? 
If  God  had  all  power,  why  did  he  not  prevent  evfl 
from  entering  into  the  world?  And  how  could  there 
have  been  anj-  evil  if  he  did  not  make  it?" 

"My  dear  young  lad}-,  this  conversation  is  very 
unprofitable.  I  called  to  see  the  Deacon,  your  father, 
about  some  church  matters.     Where  .shall  I  find  him?" 

"I  think  he  is  in  the  house,  sir,"  replied  the  maiden. 
And  the  preacher,  bidding  them  good  afternoon,  left 
them. 


CHAPTER    II. 

Not  long  after  the  events  of  the  foregoing  chapter 
a  revival  began  in  the  church,  and  while  many  found 
peace  in  believing,  our  good  friend  Dai.sy  still  re- 
mained out  of  the  fold.  Great  were  the  efforts  put 
forth  and  the  prayers  offered  in  her  behalf.  It  seemed, 
so  said  our  worth}-  deacon,  that  the  doors  of  heaven 
were  closed  against  her  because  of  her  unbelief.  But 
she  did  not  seem  at  all  troubled,  and  took  the  matter 
calmly. 

When  the  school  opened,  it  was  found  that  the  new 
teacher,  who  had  come  from  the  city,  held  the  same 
views  that  she  did.     Great  consternation  was  felt    and 


134  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

a  discussion  was  held  by  the  minister  and  some  of  the 
active  members,  about  the  advisability  of  dismissing 
him;  but  as  he  was  well  liked  and  the  school  was  in  a 
flourishing  condition,  the  subject  was  dropped. 

He  introduced  several  new  features  into  the  society 
of  the  little  village.  One  was  a  debating  class,  in 
which  both  ladies  and  gentlemen  took  sides. 

During  the  winter  the  subject  of  "Evolution"  was 
chosen  as  a  topic  for  discussion.  On  one  side  w^as  the 
teacher,  Mr.  James  Stewart,  and  Daisy  Dean,  the  dea- 
con's daughter.  On  the  opposition  was  the  minister 
and  lawyer  Black,  who  always  sided  with  the  biggest 
party. 

The  school  house  was  crowded,  and  surprise  and 
curiosity  was  manifested,  that  Daisy  should  take  sides 
in  opposition  to  such  great  men.  The  meeting  was 
called  to  order  by  the  chairman,  the  subject  was  an- 
nounced and  the  question  was  read. 

Resolved,  That  the  doctrine  of  evolution  is  true. 
Affirmative,  James  Stewart  and  Daisy  Dean.  Negative, 
Rev.  Mr.  Praiseworthy-  and  Asa  Black,   Esq. 

James  Stewart  opened  the  debate  by  laying  down 
three  propositions,  First,  that  matter  and  force  were 
eternal.  Second,  that  evolution  is  but  growth,  pro- 
gression. Third,  that  growth  and  progression  w^as 
nature's  law  and  that  evolution  was  the  carrying  out 
of  the  law.  He  showed  from  geology  that  the  earth 
had  been  passing  through  progressive  changes;  that 
from  the  ball  of  molten  lava  that  was  thrown  from  the 
sun,  as  all  scientists  claim,  it  has  been  the  subject  of 
change;  from  the  cooling  process  forming  a  crust  upon 
which,  in  the  process  of  time,  little  lichens  and  mos.ses 
appeared;  they,  resolving  back  became  earth,    and    .so 


AND  IJBKRAI.   I.KCTURKS.  I  35 

through  successive  ages,  one  growth  after  another, 
larger  forms  of  trees,  shrubs,  plants.  The  heated  con- 
dition of  the  atmosphere  caused  them  to  grow  rapidly, 
and  to  enormous  dimensions,  then  rapidly  decay,  form- 
ing soil  on  the  earth's  surface,  and  in  tlie  process  of 
time  life  appeared.  The  smallest  forms,  and  through 
conditions  condusive,  other  forms  of  life  appeared,  and 
through  .successive  ages  again,  change  after  change, 
until  man,  the  culminating  glory  of  nature's  work " 

"Time,"  rapped  the  chairman. 

The  speaker  sat  down  with  faint  murmurs  of  ap- 
plause. The  subject  was  new.  The  average  mind 
had  not  grasped  it.  When  the  Rev.  Mr.  Prai.seworthy 
rose  to  his  feet  it  was  in  a  storm  of  applai:.se.  All 
were  satisfied  that  the  little  David  who  had  spoken 
would  be  annihilated  by  their  Goliah. 

"Friends"  .said  the  reverend  gentleman,  "it  looks 
to  me  like  child's  play  to  rise  here,  just  to  knock  over 
the  little  cob-house  our  young  friend  has  liuilded  with 
so  much  care.  Let  me  sum  up  all  the.se  propositions 
in  one.  In  six  days,  God  made  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  and  pronounced  them  good;  that  he  did  not  wait 
for  ages  and  ages  of  time,  but  he  did  it  in  six  days. 
[Great  applause.]  He  placed  man  on  the  earth,  and 
in  his  wisdom,  he,  pitying  his  lonely  condition  made 
woman.  The  earth  was  already  covered  with  trees 
and  plants,  everj'  tree  bringing  .seed  after  its  kind. 
He  did  not  wait  for  ages  on  ages  to  do  it,  he  did  it  in 
six  days.  Now,  friends,  it  has  not  taken  my  half  hour 
to  do  that  little  job.  and  I  will  not  u.se  the  balance  of 
my  time,  for  there  is  no  argument."  The  preacher  sat 
down  amid  roars  of  applause.  The  next  speaker  was 
Daisy  Dean.      Most  people    thought    that    she    would 


136  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 

not  dare  take  the  floor  after  the  terrible  blow  the 
teacher  had  received,  but  she  came  calm  1}'  forward  to 
the  desk. 

"Friends,"  she  said,  "it  may  be  considered  pre- 
sumptuous for  me  to  say  it,  but  the  last  speaker  has 
made  no  argument  against  the  question.  He  says  God 
made  the  world  in  six  days.  Many  of  the  Christian 
scholars  claim,  as  said  in  holy  writ,  that  one  day 
with  the  Almighty  is  as  a  thousand  years,  and  that 
the  days  spoken  of  in  the  text  were  long  periods  of 
time,  and  the  six  days  or  long  periods  of  time,  must 
have  amounted  to  ages  and  ages  in  which  to  consum- 
mate the  work.  He  has  given  us  nothing  to  reply  to, 
so  I  will  show  to  the  best  of  my  ability  how  matter 
and  force  are  the  great  elements  through  which  nature 
works;  that  cause  and  effect  are  the  operators  in  the 
great  plan,  and  that  evolution  is  the  web  woven  in  the 
great  loom  of  time,  carrying  forward  the  work.  If 
works  through  human  endeavors,  the  love  of  life,  of 
lease,  of  comfort,  for  motive  powers.  The  nurseryman 
in  the  propogation  of  fruits,  by  budding  and  grafting 
and  culture,  produces  finer  varieties  of  fruit,  than  the 
kind  that  was  made  in  six  days;  and  so,  not  only  in 
fruits  but  in  every  avenue  of  life  the  analogy  holds 
good.  From  the  dim  past  where  our  forefathers  lived 
in  huts  or  even  dens  of  the  earth.  Their  clothing 
was  rude,  made  from  the  skins  of  animals,  with  no 
knowledge,  no  books,  no  fire.  Compare  all  this  with 
the  thousand  comforts  we  have  to-day,  and  deny  the 
truth  of  evolution.  Who  can?"  While  she  spoke  the 
audience  sat  spell-bound.  Her  self-possession  and  the 
ease  with  which  she  handled  her  subject  carried  con- 
\action  to  every  listener;  and  the  burst  of  applause  that 


AM)  I.IHICKAI,    Ija'TTKICS.  1 37 

followed  her  to  lier  seat  showed  that  the  tide  had 
turned  in  the  opinions  of  the  audience. 

The  next  speaker,  Asa  Black,  Esq.,  said  that  he- 
would  not  be  .so  ungallant  as  to  attempt  to  reply  to  a 
lady,  and  took  his  seat  amid  groans  from  the  audience. 

As  no  one  cho.se  to  make  any  remarks,  James  Stew- 
art took  the  floor  for  the  closing  argument.  He 
showed  conclusive!)'  that  the  doctrine  of  evolution  was 
true  in  the  rise  and  fall  of  empires  and  governments; 
that  at  last,  the  simple  form  of  government  for  the 
people  and  by  the  people  was  the  star  in  the  West, 
leading  the  nations  of  the  old  world  to  it;  that  the  arts 
and  sciences  were  making  constant  advancement,  all 
working  for  the  well-being  of  humanity.  He  clo.sed 
amid  roars  of  applause,  and  the  verdict  was  unanimous- 
ly given  to  the  affirmative.  Daisy  Dean  was  the 
recipient  of  many  compliments  and  the  teacher  be- 
came ver}'  popular. 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  arguments  advanced  bj'  the  teacher  and  Daisy 
Dean  made  a  great  impression  on  the  little  community, 
and  was  the  subject  of  conversation  whenever  neigh- 
bors met.  Great  astonishment  was  manifested  that 
the  deacon's  daughter  should  so  well  understand  the 
subject.  After  his  signal  defeat  at  the  debate  and  the 
absence  of  an  argument,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Praiseworthy 
did  not  stand  as  high  in  the  estimation  of  the  com- 
munity as  formerly,  and  it  did  not  add  to  the  kindly 
feelings  he  held  towards  his  opponents;  neither  did  it 
add  to  the  numbers  of  his  audience.  Although  large 
numbers  had  recently  been  added  to  his  church,  he 
noticed  with  chagrin  that  the  numbers  who  remained 


138  FREE  THOUGHT  POEMS 

faithful  were  growing  less  and  less,  until  nearly  all 
of  those  who  had  joined  in  the  last  revival  had  fallen 
from  grace  and  their  names  had  been  removed  from  the 
church  book. 

About  this  time  a  new  accession  was  made  to  the 
business  element  of  the  town.  A  Mr.  Wilson  moved 
into  the  village  and  took  charge  of  the  only  hotel.  He 
made  many  improvements,  and  being  a  genial,  agree- 
able companion,  he  soon  became  very  popular.  It 
was  soon  understood  that  he  was  a  disciple  of  the 
doctrine  that  was  so  ably  handled  at  the  debate,  and 
many  were  the  knots  of  men  and  boys  who  gathered 
on  his  broad  porch  to  discuss  the  subject.  It  was  sur- 
prising to  see  what  a  hold  these  new  ideas  had  upon 
the  minds  of  the  people,  and  as  time  passed  a  society 
was  organized,  and  stated  meetings  were  held.  Some- 
times a  lecturer  from  abroad  occupied  their  platform; 
at  other  times  an  article  v/as  read  by  the  teacher,  or  a 
discussion  was  entered  into  by  the  members.  Their 
numbers  rapidly  increased  and  they  were  soon  enabled 
to  build  a  hall  of  their  own,  and  Daisy  Dean  was  one 
of  a  list  of  speakers  who  occupied  the  pulpit  at  regular 
intervals. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Praiseworthy  was  obliged  to  resign 
his  charge  and  seek  another  field  of  labor;  and  as  the 
new  society  grew  and  flourished  there  was  not  paying 
members  enough  left  in  the  church  to  insure  a  preach- 
er's salary,  consequently  the  church  was  without  a 
pastor,  and  Deacon  Dean  became  so  impressed  with  the 
truth  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  he  left  the  church 
and  became  an  ardent  adherent  ot  the  new  societ}-. 
Shortly  after  Mr.  Dean  left  the  church,  his  aged  father 
feeling  that  evil  would  surely  come  to  that  house,  left 


AN'D  IJHKKAI,  I.KCTrRKS.  I39 

•to  reside  with  his  daiii^hter,  h()}>ing  he  had  found  a 
refuge  where  the  trail  of  the  serpent  could  not  enter; 
but  here  he  was  doomed  to  disappointment,  for  soon  a 
visit  from  Daisy  was  plainied  by  her  cousins. 

Upon  her  arrival  her  grandfather  drew  her  to  his 
knee  and  prayed  her  to  abandon  her  wicked  belief  be- 
fore it  was  too  late,  and  seek  for  merc>'. 

"No,  grandpa,"  said  the  gentle  girl,  "I  would  be 
sorry  to  cause  you  any  unhappiness,  but  feel  that  I 
am  right  and  consequently  camiot  retract." 

Her  teachings  had  the  same  effect  here  as  in  her  own 
immediate  ;ieighborhood.  She  was  invited  to  deliver 
a  lecture,  which  she  did,  and  awakened  an  interest 
which  grew  until  a  .society  was  organized  and  regular 
speaking  was  the  result  of  her  efforts. 


140  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


THE  HINDOO  SKEPTIC. 


I  think  till  I  weary  with  thinking, 
Said  the  sad-eyed  Hindoo  King, 

And  I  see  but  shadows  around  me — 
Illusion  in  everything. 

How  knowest  thou  aught  of  God, 

Of  His  favor  or  His  wTath? 
Can  the  little  fish  tell  what  the  lion  thinks, 

Or  map  out  the  eagle's  path? 

Can  the  finite  the  infinite  search? 

Did  the  blind  discover  the  stars? 
Is  the  thought  that  I  think  a  thought? 

Or  a  throb  of  the  brain  in  its  bars? 

For  aught  that  my  eye  can  discern, 
Your  God  is  what  you  think  good; 

Yourself  flashed  back  from  the  glass 
When  the  light  pours  on  it  in  flood. 

You  preach  to  me  to  be  just; 

And  this  is  His  realm  you  say; 
And  the  good  are  dying  of  hunger. 

And  the  bad  gorge  every  da}^ 


AND  LIBKKAI.  UXTIKKS.  I4I 

You  say  that  He  lovetli  mercy; 

And  the  famine  is  not  yet  gone; 
That  He  hateth  the  shedder  of  blood. 

And  He  slayeth  us  every  one. 

You  say  that  my  soul  shall  live; 

That  the  spirit  can  never  die — 
If  He  were  contented  when  I  was  not, 

Why  not  when  I  have  passed  by? 

You  say  I  must  have  a  meaning: 

So  must  soil,  and  its  meaning  is  flowers. 

What  if  our  souls  are  but  nurture 
For  lives  that  are  greater  than  ours. 

When  the  fish  swims  out  of  the  water, 
When  the  birds  soar  out  of  the  blue, 

Man's  thought  may  transcend  man's   knowledge, 
And  your  God  be  no  reflex  of  you. 


142  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 


SAVE  YOUR  SOUL. 


I  am  sick  of  the  preacher's  only  strain, 

Save  your  soul,  save  your  soul,  save  your  soul, 

I  am  tired  of  hearing  forever  and  aj^e 
The  same  old  song  from  the  pulpit  roll. 

It  seems  to  me  like  a  selfish  cry, 

This  telling  a  man  that  the  only  thing 

Of  any  importance  here  below 

Is  saving  himself  {rom.  a  future  sting. 

* 

Far  nobler  far,  far  better,  it  seems  to  me, 

To  tell  a  man  to  save  some  other, 
To  send  him  up  and  down  through  the  world 

Seeking  and  saving  his  fallen  brother. 

To  put  him  off  from  the  beaten  track. 
Out  into  the  hedges  of  sin  and  shame; 

To  teach  and  to  tell  to  the  captives  bound, 
The  beauty  and  glory  of  virtue's  name. 

To  rescue  the  starving  from  sin  and  death, 
To  rescue  the  sinning  one  from  crime, 

To  preach  the  gospel  of  present  helps 
To  the  weary  ones  on  the  shores  of  time. 


AND  LIBERAL  LKCTURES.  143 

To  seek  out  those  whom  the  world  forgets, 
To  plant  a  flower  on  a  nameless  grave. 

To  hide  the  erring  one  in  the  heart. 
And  strengtlien  it  with  a  purpose  brave. 

To  do  to  the  little  ones  of  God 

The  things  which  he  does  to  the  great. 

To  walk  the  world  with  a  purpose  grand. 
And  with  eye  on  the  final  good,  to  wait. 

If  a  man  does  this,  I  dare  affirm 

That  he  can  afford  to  forego  all  care 

About  going  to  heaven,  and  give  his  whole  time 
To  the  work  of  getting  his  neie:hbor  there. 


144  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


Wb  MB6t5  Upoi]  the  Level  \  part  Upon  tje  pquai^e. 


We  meet  upon  the  level,  and  we  part  upon  the  square — 
What  words  of  precious  meaning  these  words  Masonic 

are! 
Come,  let  us  contemplate  them,  they  are  worthy  of   a 

thought — 
In  the  very  soul  of  Masonry  these  precious  words    are 

wrought. 

We  meet  upon  the  level  though  from  every  station 
come. 

The  rich  man  from  his  mansion,  and  the  poor  man 
from  his  home; 

For  the  one  must  leave  his  heritage  outside  the  Masons 
door. 

While  the  other  finds  his  best  respect  upon  the  check- 
ered floor. 


We  part  upon  the  square,  for  the  world  must  have  its 

due; 
We  mingle  with  the  multitude — a  faithful  band,   and 

true ; 
But  the  influence  of  our  gatherings  in  memory  is  green; 
And  we  long  upon  the  level  to  renew  the  happy  scene . 


AND  LIBERAL  LECTURES.  I45 

There's  a  world  were  all  are  equal — we  are  joiirneyiiij; 

toward  it  fast, 
We  shall  meet  upon  the  level  there,  when  the  j;ates  of 

death  are  past; 
We  shall  stand  before  the  Orient,  and  our  master  will 

be  there, 
To  tr>-  the  blocks   we    offer   with    his    own    unerring 

square. 

We  shall  meet  upon  the  level,  but  never  thence  depart. 
There's  a  mansion — 'tis   all    ready    for   each    faithful, 

trusting  heart  — 
There's  a  mansion,  and  a  welcome,  and  a  multitude  is 

there 
Who  have  met  upon  the  level,  and  been  tried  upon  the 

square. 

Let    us    meet   upon    the    level,    then,    while   laboring 

patient  here, 
Let  us  meet  and  let  us  labor,  though  the  labor  is  severe; 
Already,  in  the  Western  sky,  the  signs  bid  us  prepare 
To  gather  up  our  working  tools,    and    part    upon    the 

square. 

Hands  round,  ye  faithful  Masons,  in  the  bright  frater- 
nal chain! 

We  part  upon  the  .square  below  to  meet  in  heaven 
again. 

Oh  I  what  words  of  precious  meaning  these  words 
Masonic  are: 

We  meet  upon  the  level,  and  part  upon  the  square. 


146  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


Swing  inward,  O  gates  of  the  Future  ! 

Swing  outw^ard,  ye  doors  of  the  Past ! 
For  the  soul  of  the  People  is  moving, 

And  rising  from  slumber  at  last; 
The  black  forms  of  night  are  retreating, 

The  white  peaks  have  signalled  the  day, 
And  Freedom  her  long  roll  is  beating, 

And  calling  her  sons  to  the  fray. 

Swing  inward,  O  gates !  till  the  morning 

Shall  paint  the  brown  mountains  in  gold. 
Till  the  life  and  the  love  of  the  New  Time 

Shall  conquer  the  hate  of  the  Old; 
Let  the  face  and  the  hand  of  the  Master 

No  longer  be  hidden  from  view. 
Nor  the  lands  he  prepared  for  the  many 

Be  trampled  and  robbed  by  the  few. 

The  soil  tells  the  same  fruitful  story. 

The  seasons  their  bounties  display, 
And  the  flowers  lift  their  faces  in  glor>^ 

To  catch  the  warm  kisses  of  day; 
While  our  fellows  are  treated  as  cattle 

That  are  muzzled  when  treading  the  corn, 
And  millions  sink  down  in  Life's  battle 

With  a  sigh  for  the  day  they  were  born. 


AND  libp:rai,  lhcturks.  147 

Must  tlie  sc-a  i)lead  in  \-ain  that  the  ri\-(jr, 

May  return  to  its  mother  for  rest, 
And  the  earth  beg  the  rain-clouds  to  give  her 

Of  dews  they  have  drawn  from  her  breast? 
Lo  !    the  answer  comes  back  in  a  mutter 

From  domes  where  the  quick  lightnings   glow. 
And  from  heights  where  the  mad  waters  utter 

Their  warning  to  dwellers  below. 

And  woe  to  the  robbers  who  gather 

In  fields  where  they  never  have  sown; 
Who  have  stolen  the  jewels  from  Labor. 

And  builded  to  Mammon  a  throne; 
For  the  Snow  King,  asleep  by  the  fountains, 

Shall  wake  in  the  Summer's  ha|  breath. 
And  descend  in  hot  rage  from  the  mountains, 

Bearing  terror,  destruction  and  death. 

And  the  throne  of  their  god  shall  be  crumbled, 

And  the  scepter  be  swept  from  his  hand; 
And  the  heart  of  the  haughty  be  humbled, 

And  a  ser\'ant  be  chief  in  the  land. 
And  the  truth  and  the  Power  united 

Shall  rise  from  the  graves  of  the  true. 
And  the  wrongs  of  the  Old  Time  be  righted 

In  the  might  and  the  light  of  the  New. 

For  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  hath  said  it. 

Whose  lips  never  uttered  a  lie; 
And  his  prophets  and  poets  have  read  it 

In  symbols  of  earth  and  of  sky — 
That  to  him  who  hath  reveled  in  plunder 


FRKE  THOUGHT    POEMS 

Till  the  angel  of  conscience  is  dumb, 
The  shock  of  the  earthquake  and  thunder 
And  tempest  and  torrent  shall  come. 

Swing  inward,  O  gates  of  the  Future  ! 

Swing  outward,  ye  doors  of  the  Past ! 
A  giant  is  waking  from  slumber. 

And  rending  his  fetters  at  last. 

From  the  dust,  where  his  proud  tyrants  found  him, 
Unhonored  and  scorned  and  betrayed. 

He  shall  rise  with  the  sunlight  around  him, 
And  rule  in  the  realm  he  has  made. 


AND  LIBEKAI,    LKCTTRKS.  1 49 


LIVING    STONES. 


My  friend,  are  you  getting  discouraged 

In  fighting  the  battle  of  Hfe  ? 
Does  it  seem  in  your  weakness  and  darkness 

A  hopeless!}'  desperate  strife  ? 
Do  you  feel  that  your  study  and  labor 

Are  destined  to  bring  no  reward  ? 
Is  the  goal  of  your  ardent  ambition 

By  numberless  accidents  barred* 
Despair  not !  true,  thorough  self  culture 

Is  never  lui wisely  bestowed; 
The  stone  that  is  fit  for  the  builder 

Will  not  always  be  left  in  the  road. 

Does  it  seem  an  injustice  that  others 

Whose  merits  and  fitness  are  less. 
Through  chances  of  fortune  or  favor, 

Rush  forward  to  easy  success  ? 
Remember  that  fortune  is  fickle, 

And  friends  will  not  always  endure. 
So  to  those  who  depend  upon  either. 

The  future  is  never  secure. 
The  tide  that  is  now  in  their  favor 

At  some  time  may  ebb  as  it  flowed. 
And  the  stone  that's  unfit  for  the  builder 

Will  be  ruthlesslv  flung  in  the  road. 


150  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 

Be  patient  !  life's  loftiest  prizes 

Are  not  to  be  hastily  won; 
Expect  not  to  gather  the  harvest 

The  moment  the  seed  has  been  sown; 
A  ravenous  horde  of  pretenders — 

A  pushing  and  clamorous  crew — 
Will  have  to  be  tried  and  found  wanting 

Ere  you  can  be  tried  and  found  true. 
The  best  by  the  side  of  the  worthless, 

Together  may  lie  in  the  load, 
But  the  stone  that  is  fit  for  the  builder 

Will  not  always  be  left  in  the  road. 

Go  read  the  encouraging  story 

Of  eminent  men  of  the  past, 
Who,  long  in  obscurity  toiling. 

Compelled  recognition  at  last; 
Of  men,  who  in  art,  or  in  science. 

Or  letters,  have  conquered  a  place, 
Or  in  the  wide  realm  of  invention. 

Have  left  a  rich  boon  to  their  race; 
Their  names  upon  history's  pages, 

Eike  stars  in  the  darkness  have  glowed; 
Like  stones  that  were  fit  for  the  builder, 

They  were  not  to  be  left  in  the  road. 


AND  I.IIii;i<AI.  I.lvCTlkl'S.  I  SI 


CALL    HIM    MAD. 

Yes,  call  him  mad  who  dares  to  climb 

The  rock-strewn  path  of  truth. 
You  who  would  never  dare  to  peer 

Beyond  the  ken  of  youth ; 
You  who  never  see  the  seed 

Till  the  bursting  of  the  grain. 
And  can  never  feel  the  sunshine 

Cilowing  just  beyond  the  rain  ! 

Call  him  mad,  who,  pushing  forward, 

Full  a  century  in  the  van, 
Plants  his  banner  on  the  hill-tops. 

Claims  man's  leader  is  a  man  ! 
And  if  3-ou  must  stop  and  linger, 

Afraid  to  breast  the  hill, 
Stand  back  in  lower  darkness. 

Make  room  for  him  who  will  ' 

Float  in  your  idle  vessels. 

Close  within  the  harbor  liar: 
Make  it  dance  among  the  ripples. 

Though  you  may  not  venture  far: 
T.ie  and  wonder  at  the  waters, 

vStretching  out  .so  wild  ami  free, 
vSomewhere  there's  a  better  sailor. 

Who  will  dare  to  put  to  sea. 


1 


152  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 

Sleep  you  then  in  perfect  safety, 

Close  within  the  guarded  fort; 
Make  the  war  of  Earth  a  pastime, 

And  the  fight  of  Life  a  sport; 
lyinger,  if  you  will,  in  pleasure. 

While  the  weary  hours  lag. 
Somewhere  there's  a  bolder  soldier. 

Who  will  carry  on  the  flag. 

Call  him  mad  !     And  yet  forever 

Some  grand  leader  will  be  there, 
Pushing  upward  to  the  summit. 

Pushing  up  toward  clear  air. 
You  may  staj-  in  closer  darkness. 

Clasping  close  your  clanking  chain, 
Some  one  }'et  will  strike  it  from  j-ou, 

Makinar  free  the  heart  and  brain  ! 


AND  I.IHllRAI,    I.I-XTl'RKS.  I  53 


HEAYEN    CANNOT    SAYE. 


"  Oh  !  God,  have  mercy!"  a  mother  cried. 
As  she  humbly  knelt  at  the  cradle  side  ; 

"Oh  !  God.  have  merc\',  and  hear  my  prayer. 
And  take  my  babe  in  Thy  tender  care. 
The  angel  of  Death  is  in  the  room, 
And  is  callin<^  loud  for  my  babe  to  come  ; 
Thou,  Thou  alone  hast  power  to  save — 
Oh  !  God,  have  mercy  !   'tis  all  I  crave." 

A  tiny  grave,  'neath  a  willow's  shade, 
Told  what  answer  The  Merciful  made. 

The  night  was  dark  on  Ocean's  breast, 

And  the  waves  rolled  high  in  wild  unrest, 

Where  a  stately  bark  was  dashing  on 

Toward  a  breaker's  crest,  with  her  rudder  gone; 

Around  the  capstan,  in  wild  despair. 

The  crew  have  gathered,  and  joined  in  prayer 

To  him,  who  only  had  power  to  save, 

To  deliver  them  now  from  a  water}-  grave. 

A  crash,  and  a  'gulphing  wave  alone. 
Were  the  answers  of  the  Omnipotent  One. 

At  noon  of  night  in  the  city's  heart. 
When  slumber  reigned  o'er  home  and  mart, 


154  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

The  fire-fieud  burst  from  his  secret  place, 

And  wrapped  all  things  in  his  fierce  embrace. 

Oh !  then,  how 'many  a  frenzied  prayer 

To  Heaven,  for  safety  rent  the  air ! 

For  homes  !  for  lives  !  for  loves  ! — and  then 

The  flames  that  crisped  them  sneered — Amen  ! 

Homes,  friends  and  loved  ones  crisped  and  charred 
Told  how  Heaven  the  prayers  had  heard. 

From  the  earliest  dawn  of  Nature's  birth, 

Since  sorrow  and  sin  first  darkened  the  earth, 

From  sun  to  sun,  from  pole  to  pole, 

Wherever  the  waves  of  Humanity  roll, 

The  breezy  robe  this  planet  wears 

Has  quivered  and  echoed  with  countless  prayers. 

Each  hour  a  million  knees  are  bent; 

A  million  prayers  to  Heaven  are  sent. 

There's  not  a  summer  beam  l^ut  .sees 

Some  humble  suppliant  on  his  knees; 

There's  not  a  breeze  that  murmurs  by 

But  wafts  some  pitiful  prayer  on  high; 

There's  not  a  woe  afflicts  our  race 

But  some  one  bears  to  the  Throne  of  Grace. 

And  for  every  temptation  our  souls  may  meet. 

Is  grace  besought  at  the  Mercy  Seat. 

The  beams  smile  on,  and  Heaven,  serene, 
vStill  bends  as  though  no  prayers  had  been; 
And  the  breezes  moan,  as  still  they  wave — 
]l  hoi  Man  is poiverlcss,  Heavrn  cannot  save  ! 


\\i)  i.iiu.KAi.  i.i-:cTrki-:s.  155 


SOMEBODY'S  MOTHER. 


The  woinaii  was  old,  and  ragged,  and  gray. 
And  bent  with  the  chill  of  a  winter's  day: 
The  streets  were  white  with  a  recent  snow. 
And  the  w<^nian's  feet  with  age  were  slow. 

At  the  crowded  crossing  she  waited  long. 
Jostled  aside  by  the  careless  throng 
Of  human  beings  who  passed  her  by. 
Unheeding  the  glance  of  hei-  anxious  eye. 

Down  the  street  with  laughter  and  shout. 
Glad  in  the  freedom  of  "school  let  out," 
Come  happ\-  boys,  like  a  flock  of  sheep. 
Hailing  the  snow  piled  white  and  deep. 
Past  the  woman  so  old  and  gray, 
Hastened  the  children  on  their  way. 

None  offered  a  helping  hand  to  her. 

So  weak  and  timid,  afraid  to  stir. 

Lest  the  carriage  wheels  or  the  horses'   feet 

vShould  tranij^le  her  down  in  the  sli[)pery  street. 

At  last  came  out  of  the  merry  troop 
The  gayest  boy  of  all  the  group: 
He  paused  beside  her  and  whispered  low: 
"I'll  help  3-ou  across  if  you  wish  to  go." 


156  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

Her  aged  hand  on  his  strong  young  arm 
She  placed,  and  so,  without  hurt  or  harm, 
He  guided  the  trembling  feet  along, 
Proud  that  his  own  were  3'oung  and  strong; 
Then  back  again  to  his  friends  he  went. 
His  young  heart  happy  and  well  content. 

"She's  somebody's  mother,  boys,  you  know, 
For  all  she's  aged  and  poor  and  slow; 
And  some  one.  sometime,  may  lend  a  hand 
To  help  my  mother,  you  understand  ? 
If  ever  she's  poor  and  old  and  gray, 
And  her  own  dear  boy  so  far  away," 

"Somebody's  mother"  bowed  low  her  head 

In  her  home  that  night,  and  the  prayer  she   said 

Was:    "God  be  kind  to  that  noble  boy 

Who  is  somebody's  .son  and  pride  and  joy." 

Faint  was  the  voice,  and  worn  and  weak. 
But  Heaven  lists  when  its  chosen  speak; 
Angels  caught  the  faltering  words. 
And  "somebody's  mother's"  prayer  was  heard. 


iS\)  I.IUKKAL  I.l'XTrkKS.  I  5; 


THE  DYING  INFIDEL. 


I  am  dying,   Christian,   dying, 

And  my  life  light  fades  away. 
To  the  tint  of  cliilling  shadows 

With  whicli  night  entombs  the  da>-. 
Let  me  ask  of  you  a  favor, 

As  I  go  the  way  of  earth — 
Go  to  pay  the  del:)t  of  Nature 

That  each  one  incurs  at  birth. 

With  me  still  are  my  convictions, 

As  in  life  I  held  them  dear, 
And  I  would  be  worse  than  coward  ! 

If  I  cringe  or  falter  here. 
Thus  in  life's  expiring  streamlet, 

As  it  wastes  adown  the  hill, 
I  will  perish — (Ha!  you  tremble;) 

Die  an  unbeliever  still. 

Let  no  preacher's  voice  up])raid  me, 

I  despise  his  cant  and  scorn, 
Though  I  bend  to  Mother  Nature, 

Like  the  ripe  and  golden  corn. 
For  he  wields  no  scepter  o'er  me, — 

Knows  not  whence  I  go  or  came. 
Nor  the  fate  of  those  before  me 

Since  warm  life  has  riuenched  its  flame. 


158  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 

vShould  thy  priests  to  awe  their  minions 

vSwear  my  life  was  closed  in  fear, 
And  I  went  a  whining  coward  ! 

To  the  ghastly  hungiy  bier, 
Tell  them  that  I  never  faltered, 

Never  from  my  duty  ran, 
Never  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal, 

But  died  every  inch  a  man. 

What  is  all  thy  boasted  glor}-, 

Boasted  peace  and  love  divine 
When  dark  hate,  and  lust  and  murder 

Round  the  cross  like  ivy  twine  ? 
Faith  breeds  strife;  and  each  religion 

Nursed  by  Christian,   Greek  or  Jew, 
Tramples  on  a  neighbor's  feelings 

Never  pays  "the  Devil's  due." 

I  am  dying,  Christian,  dying, 

Soon  the  clouds  will  o'er  me  rest. 
And  the  grass  above  me  growing — 

I  will  sleep  on  Mother's  breast. 
Sweetl}'  sleep — no  doubt  forever — 

With  no  fear  of  smoking  hell 
That  beclouds  the  mental  vision, 

Christian,  once  again,   farewell. 


AM)  i.n{i;KAi.  i.iccTrki-.s.  159 


I^EV.  JD^1J\[I  W/1LLIJ\H^. 

"All,"  soliloquized  the  minister,  "I  must  make  my 
sermons  more  impressive.  There  seems  to  be  a  lallin.i; 
off  in  my  audience;  too  many  of  my  people  are  attend- 
ing the  lectures  given  by  that  infidel,  who  is  drawing 
such  crowds  to  listen  to  his  strong  arguments  against 
Christianity.  I  will  preach  next  Sunday  upon  the  sin 
of  being  led  away  by  false  teaching.s — anti-Christ — 
who  by  fair  sounding  words  would  deceive  the  ver\- 
elect."  Thus  saying  the  minister  selected  for  his  text 
the  words  of  Je.sus:  "Go  not  after  them,  my  people," 
and  set  himself  to  his  task. 

The  cause  of  his  anxiet\-  was  a  series  of  lectures  u]'- 
on  evolution  and  kindred  subjects,  which  were  being 
delivered  in  the  town,  and  large  crowds  were  attracted 
to  listen  to  the  speaker,  who  was  an  expert;  who  by 
long  study  of  the  Bible  and  biblical  works  had  grown 
out  of  his  old  beliefs,  which  were  a  truth  to  him  at  one- 
time, and  he  left  the  pulpit  because  he  could  no  longer 
preach  Christ  and  him  crucified  as  a  saviour   of  men. 

There  were  many  church  members  who  went  at  first 
out  of  curiosity  to  listen  to  the  lectures,  but  liecoming 
interested  in  the  subjects,  had  contiiuied  to  attend,  a> 
we  have  seen,  to  the  annoyance  ot  their  pastor.  Rev. 
Theodore  Beauchamp.     On  the  following  Sunday   his 


]6o  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

audience  were  surprised  at  the  earnestness  with  which 
he  treated  the  subject.  His  text,  as  we  have  seen,  was: 
"Go  not  after  them,  oh  my  people."  He  appHed  the 
text  to  the  present  occasion,  explaining  the  sin  and 
folly  of  going  after  false  teachings.  Go  not  after  them, 
oh  my  brethern,  rang  out  again  and  again  from  the 
sacred  desk. 

The  lectures  continued  and  the  audience  increased, 
and  the  vacant  seats  in  the  church  of  the  Rev.  Beau- 
champ  were  conspicuous  for  their  numbers.  Among 
those  who  had  been  led  away  was  a  gentleman  by  the 
name  of  Cornell.  He  was  a  wealthy  man  and  very 
liberal  to  the  church,  consequently  he  was  a  great  loss, 
and  the  pastor  set  himself  to  work  to  induce  him  to 
return.  I^ong  and  earnestly  he  labored  with  the 
brother,  to  persuade  him  that  he  was  going  wrong; 
that  the  teachings  he  was  listening  to  were  false;  but 
Cornell  had  become  too  much  interested  in  the  new 
philosophy  to  have  any  desire  to  turn  back,  con- 
sequently the  pastor  had  but  very  little  influence  over 
him.  Among  others  for  whom  the  pastor  professed 
extreme  solicitude,  was  an  estimable  lady  who  was  the 
owner  of  a  large  property,  and  whose  donations  were 
alwaj'S  liberal.  He  paid  her  frequent  visits  and  en- 
deavored to  convince  her  that  the  teachings  she  was 
listening  to  were  untenable.  He  quoted  from  Jesus 
to  beware  of  false  teachers,  who  would  appear  at  the 
last  da\'s  and  deceive  many,  and  his  great  desire  was 
to  hold  her  as  by  the  arms  of  faith  from  foll'wing  after 
straiige  gods  and  being  led  by  delusions.  Several  of 
his  flock  who  were  in  moderate  circumstances,  and  who 
were  necessarily  compelled  to  donate  sparingly  to  the 
church,    he    paid    no   particular   attention    to,    farther 


AND  Liiii'iKAi,  i,i;cTrK]:s.  iCm 

than  to  give  them  a  sharj)  reprimand  when  lie  clianccil 
to  meet  them. 

Let  us  listen  to  the  untenable  doctrines,  as  the  Rev. 
Theodore  Beauchamp  called  them.  The  lecturer,  a 
tall  man  with  gray  hair  and  benevolent  features,  stood 
before  an  audience  of  many  hundreds  of  people,  and  as 
he  grasped  the  subject  of  evolution  and  painted  it  as 
on  a  canvass — the  changes  through  which  the  earth 
has  passed,  from  its  primeval  condition,  when,  accord- 
ing to  geology,  the  globe  was  a  molten  mass  of  lava; 
that  the  cooling  process  occupied  ages  of  time;  that 
the  laws  of  attraction  and  gravitation  operating  through 
that  liquid  mass  drew  together  the  rocks  and  minerals 
and  metals,  which  form  the  frame  work  and  founda- 
tions of  the  earth;  that  the  commingling  of  the  gas.ses 
formed  the  waters,  which  not  only  occupy  two-thirds 
of  the  surface  of  the  globe,  but  whose  streams  circulate 
through  all  the  under-ground  system,  like  the  blood 
which  fills  the  arteries  in  the  human  form;  that  when 
the  earth's  surface  had  Ijecome  a  crust  that  vegetable 
life  gradually  made  its  appearance,  small  and  weak 
and  governed  by  existing  conditions;  but  every  growth 
was  the  promise  of  a  better,  for  all  went  to  produce 
soil.  That  in  the  cooling  process  the  earth's  .surface 
took  on  the  uneven  conditions;  the  mountains  were 
caused  through  upheavals  and  contractions  of  the  sur- 
lace;  from  the  force  of  e.scaping  gasses,  volcanoes  were 
])roduced,  great  chimneys,  which  were  the  outlet  of 
heat  and  steam,  thereby  relieving  the  pressure  from 
within.  He  .showed  how  through  changes  of  condi- 
tion, animal  life  had  differentiated;  that  necessity  had 
been  the  propelling  influence  which  had  governed  life, 
both  animal  and  human:   that  the  needs  of  the    body 


1 62  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

impelled  to  exertion;  that  hunger  led  to  the  seeking 
of  food;  that  the  elements  compelled  -them  to  seek  for 
shelter,  and  that  the  wants  and  needs  of  life  has  caused 
the  development  of  the  human  brain;  also  as  brain 
power  expanded,  the  mind  was  able  to  grasp  other  sub- 
jects and  civilization  is  the  result.  Still  farther,  and 
the  arts  and  sciences  have  assumed  their  places,  and 
with  ever}'  step  in  the  advancement  of  scientific  knowl- 
edge, m5'ths  have  given  way  and  the  schoolmaster 
takes  the  place  of  the  priest;  that  the  education  of  the 
masses  was  the  open  sesame  to  progression;  that 
through  education  came  recognition  of  the  rights  of 
others;  that  through  oppression  man  had  everstruggled 
for  liberty ;  that  our  fathers  left  the  shores  of  the  old 
world  for  love  of  liberty,  but  the  yoke  of  the  oppressor 
followed  them  here  and  rested  heavily  upon  their 
necks;  that  it  was  only  by  the  force  of  arms  that  they 
threw  off  the  galling  chains  of  the  tyrant,  and  in  the 
din  of  war  this  great  republic  was  born.  Its  baptism 
was  blood,  and  what  was  the  result,  a  free  people  ? 
No;  only  free  white  men.  Again  the  sound  to  arms 
was  heard  and  again  there  was  a  baptism  of  blood. 
The  chains  were  stricken  off  from  four  millions  of 
human  beings;  and  was  this  a  free  people?  No;  onl}^ 
the  black  was  freed. 

Another  struggle  is  abroad  in  the  land;  the  same  con- 
ditions exist  to-daj'  that  caused  our  fathers  to  rush 
into  the  fra}'.  Taxation  without  representation  was  a 
burden  too  grievous  to  be  borne  by  them,  but  they 
have  placed  the  yoke  they  once  wore  upon  the  necks 
of  the  women  of  the  republic — those  who  in  their 
great  magnanimity  they  claim  to  love,  to  wor- 
ship and  adore,  but  still  will  not  remove  the  load  from 


AM)  I,IIii:KAI,  LKCTIKKS.  I  63 

their  frail  shoulders,  which  was  Ukj  hcav>-  for  their 
own.  Oh,  consistency,  thou  jewel,  where  shall  we 
find  thee?  But  the  struggle  will  go  on.  not  with  war. 
rapine  and  murder,  but  with  argument.  Woman  stand- 
ing nobly  by  the  side  of  her  brother  man,  and  in  all 
things  sharing  his  burdens.  Education  of  the  masses 
will  bring  about  the  desired  result.  The  excu.se  that 
woman  cannot  carry  the  musket  will  not  then  be  made, 
for  with  her  advent  into  our  legislative  bodies,  new 
laws  will  be  made,  and  arbitration,  instead  of  blood- 
.shed,  will  be  the  manner  by  which  national  differences 
will  be  settled.  When  woman  assumes  her  proper 
po.sition  in  the  government  of  the  people,  a  new  order 
of  things  will  be  inaugurated.  The  old  institutions 
will  be  renovated;  house-cleaning  will  be  in  order; 
equal  rights  will  be  established,  and  that  will  mean 
equal  pay  for  equal  work  for  woman  as  well  as  man. 
This  is  an  age  of  progression.  Evolution  is  carrying 
the  world  forward;  each  generation  takes  a  step  a  little 
higher  than  did  the  last.  Upward  and  onward  has  ever 
been  the  destiu}-  of  man.  Who  can  wonder  that  the 
people  were  charmed  with  the  thoughts  that  were  .so 
new  to  them. 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Rev.  Keauchamp  decided  to  study  up  the  sub- 
ject of  evolution  in  order  to  be  more  fully  able  to  re- 
fute the  arguments  which  he  considered  so  uutenal)le. 
Cou.sequently  he  procured  the  necessary  works  and 
and  started  in  upon  his  task.  The  more  he  read  the 
more  interested  he  became.  Gradually  his  eyes  opened 
to  the  grandeur  of  the  subject,  and  ere  he  was  aware 
he  was  eml)odying  the  principles  of  evolution  inl<i    his 


164  FRKE  THOUGHT    POEMS 

sermons.     The  subject   was    full    of  beauty,    and  his 
whole  soul  was  absorbed  in  the  study  of  nature. 

Great  excitement  was  caused  b}'  the  recent  depart- 
ure of  the  Rev.  Theodore  Beauchamp,  and  large  crowds 
flocked  to  hear  him,  but  the  synod  was  near  its  session 
and  charges  were  prefered  against  the  reverend  brothei 
for  preaching  heresy,  and  as  he  would  not  retract  he 
was  deposed  from  the  ministry  and  expelled  from  the 
church.  Being  now  free,  he  resolved  to  establish  an 
independent  church,  and  with  the  assistance  of  many 
who  had  been  his  former  parishioners,  a  hall  was  pro- 
vided and  a  regular  course  of  lectures  entered  upon. 
His  success  on  the  platform  was  even  greater  than  in 
the  pulpit,  and  crowds  flocked  to  hear  him  and  a  large 
society  was  built  up. 

Soon  after  the  Rev.  Beauchamp  was  expelled  from 
church  a  heavy  failure  occurred.  A  member  of  the 
church  of  which  he  had  been  pastor,  one  who  had  been 
very  severe  in  his  denunciations  of  the  minister  and 
his  course  of  action,  failed  for  a  large  amount.  He 
compromised  with  his  creditors,  allowing  them  only 
twenty  cents  on  the  dollar.  Many  were  the  losers  by 
his  tran.saction,  but  the  law  upheld  him  and  he  still 
retained  membership  in  the  church.  Very  soon  he 
was  able  to  enter  into  business  again  as  though  nothing 
had  happened. 

Among  the  heaviest  losers  by  the  failure  was  a  man 
who  had  left  the  church  through  the  teachings  of  the 
pastor,  whose  all  was  involved  in  the  business,  and 
the  small  percentage  he  received  in  the  final  settlement 
left  him  in  a  condition  in  which  he  was  unable  to 
again  go  into  business.     He  applied  to  Smith    &    Co. 


AND  i,ii!i;kai,  i.}':cTi'ui-:s.  165 

for  work  ami  \va>  refused  t)n  account  of  his  rcli'^iou.-^ 
views. 

The  new  pastor  who  had  taken  the  pkice  of  the  Rew 
Beauchatnp  was  stronji^  in  the  faith  and  lal)ored  hard 
to  biiikl  up  tlie  walls  of  Zion  which  had  been  so  badly 
damaged.  lie  visited  man}'  of  the  members  who  had 
wandered,  and  endeavored  to  ])revail  upon  them  to  re- 
turn, as  4t  sorely  grieved  him  to  be  compelled  to  re- 
move their  names  from  the  church  book,  but  without 
.success,  and  a  church  meeting  was  called  and  a  large 
number  of  names  were  cros.sed  from  the  fellowship  of 
the  church. 

Soon  after  a  new  accession  was  made  to  the  church. 
A  wealthy  maiden  lad},',  becoming  deepl_\'  impres.sed 
with  the  necessity  of  a  change  of  heart,  was  suddenly 
converted  and  joined  the  church,  much  to  the  .satis- 
faction of  the  pastor,  who  was  a  widower.  He  im- 
mediately began  paying  marked  attention  to  sister 
Jones,  and  soon  he  had  .secured  the  large  e.state  with 
no  encumbrance  upon  it  except  a  wife. 

Little  Nellie  Williams,  the  pastor's  daughter,  was 
deeply  grieved  that  her  mother's  place  should  .so  soon 
have  been  filled  in  her  father's  heart  and  home,  as  her 
mother  had  been  dead  onl\-  a  few  months;  and  she 
could  readily  see  that  each  had  been  actuated  by  differ- 
ent motives;  with  the  one,  wealth  and  affluance  was 
the  governing  motive,  with  the  other  a  husband  and 
position.  She  soon  foiuid  that  .she  was  an  unwelcome 
itnnate  of  her  father's  house,  and  arrangements  were 
made  for  her  to  go  to  a  distant  city  to  reside  with  an 
aunt,  a  sister  of  her  mother.  While  there  she  formed 
the  acquaintance  of  a  young  man,  who  occupied  the 
position  of  teacher   in    a    large    school.      His    peculiar 


1 66  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 

views  interested  her  very  much,  and  he  invited  her  to 
attend  a  course  of  lectures  upon  evolution  and  kindred 
subjects  with  him.  Her  horns  life  and  accute  observa- 
tion had  removed  from  her  mind  all  respect  for  religion 
and  her  mind  was  ripe  for  the  reception  of  reason.  She 
soon  became  a  convert  to  the  new  faith  and  an  earnest 
advocate  to  its  principles. 

Upon  her  father's  learning  these  facts  he  pre-emptor- 
ily  ordered  her  home,  but  her  views  were  now  too  firmly 
established  to  be  affected  by  any  influence  he  could 
bring  to  bear  upon  her.  Of  course  this  brought  about 
an  unpleasant  state  of  affairs  between  herself  and  her 
father  and  she  resolved  to  leave  home.  But  w^hat 
could  she  do?  Acting  upon  the  advice  of  her  friends 
she  sought  and  obtained  a  situation  as  teacher  in  a 
small  village  a  few  miles  from  her  home.  Her  father 
strongly  objected  to  this  measure,  for  he  had  become  a 
man  of  wealth,  and  consequently  occupied  a  more  com- 
manding po.sition,  both  in  church  and  society,  and  he 
felt  that  it  reflected  upon  his  position  to  have  his 
daughter  teaching  a  village  school,  and  worse  than  all, 
avowing  her -belief  in  the  principles  which  were  gain- 
ing ground  so  rapidly,  so  he  brought  not  only  advice, 
but  parental  authority  to  bear  upon  her;  but  his 
daughter  being  of  age,  and  possessing  a  good  deal  of 
independence  of  character,  decided  to  leave  home,  as 
it  would  be  more  conducive  to  her  happiness;  she 
would  earn  her  own  living  independent  of  his  recenth' 
acquired  wealth.  This  step  closed  her  father's  doors 
against  her,  but  full  of  a  determination  to  be  self-sus- 
taining and  enjoy  her  belief  she  accepted  the  situation. 

In  the  village  where  she  was  located  as  a  school 
teacher,  was  a  young  man  who  had  also  become  a  con- 


AND  LIBERAL    LI-XTIRICS.  1 67 

vert  to  the  new  faith.  A  friendship  grew  up  between 
them  and  through  their  combined  exertions  a  little 
knot  of  liberals,  as  they  called  themselves,  met  often 
for  the  exchange  of  ideas  and  mutual  improvement. 
The  young  man,  whose  name  was  Charles  Saunders, 
was  engaged  in  manufacturing  agricultural  imple- 
ments, and  had  built  up  quite  an  extensive  trade. 
His  prospects  were  good,  and  after  a  short  acquaintance 
with  Nellie  he  proposed  marriage.  His  offer  was  ac- 
cepted and  they  were  married.  However,  before  the 
ceremony,  she  wrote  to  her  father,  acquainting  him 
with  the  fact  and  inviting  him  to  be  present  and  offi- 
ciate. But  time  passed  and  no  word  came  from  the 
Rev.  Josiah  Williams  and  they  were  married  without 
his  con.sent  or  presence.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Saunders  com- 
menced housekeeping  with  every  prospect  of  happiness. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Williams  received  the  invitation  wliich 
his  daughter  .so  kindh'  and  thoughtfully  sent  him, 
made  inquiries  about  the  young  man,  and  upon  learn- 
ing his  religious  views  refused  to  accept  the  invitation, 
and  so  all  communication  was  cut  off  between  the  two 
families.  Time  passed  and  the  minister  was  again  left 
a  widower.  His  wife  dj'ing  suddenly,  left  no  will, 
consequently  the  husband  fell  heir  to  a  large  amount 
of  property. 

Upon  hearing  of  the  death  of  his  wife,  Nellie  again 
wrote  to  her  father,  expressing  .sympathy  for  his  lo.ss 
and  inviting  him  to  visit  theuL  Her  husband  also 
.sent  his  sympathy  and  joined  with  his  wife  in  an  in- 
vitation to  make  them  a  visit.  As  Mr.  Saunders  had 
become  quite  an  influential  man  and  had  also  acquired 
considerable  property,  the  minister  accepted  their  in- 
vitation,  hoping  thereby  to  induce    them    to    become 


1 68  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 

members  of  his  church.  Their  meeting  was  cordial, 
and  the  father  was  much  pleased  with  his  son-in-law, 
and  brought  to  bear  upon  him  every  argument  or 
motive  to  induce  him  to  make  a  public  profession  of 
religion  and  unite  with  the  church,  but  all  in  vain. 
Charles  Saunders  was  an  honest,  upright  man,  and  no 
amount  of  persuasion  could  induce  him  to  swerve  from 
what  he  believed  to  be  right,  and  so  the  minister  had 
to  return  without  accomplishing  his  most  desired  ob- 
ject. But  the  Rev.  Josiah  Williams  was  now  a  rising 
man,  with  accession  of  property  his  influence  was 
much  greater  than  when  he  was  a  poor  man,  and  his 
name  began  to  be  talked  of  for  Bishop.  He  soon 
married  again — a  widow  with  propert}^,  and  this  time 
there  was  an  encumbrance  in  the  shape  of  two  daugh- 
ters. The  will  of  the  father  left  the  property  to  the 
mother,  supposing  at  her  death  it  would  be  equallj^ 
divided  between  the  children.  Soon  after  her  marriage 
with  the  Rev.  Josiah  Williams;  he  had  a  call  to  a 
distant  city,  and  feeling  that  the  Lord  had  called,  and 
as  a  much  larger  salary  was  offered,  he  accepted  and 
went.  Of  course  his  wife  had  to  leave  her  home  and 
as  her  daughters  were  under  age  the  minister  advised 
that  they  be  placed  in  a  boarding  school  to  complete 
their  education.  Much  against  her  will  the  mother 
consented  and  arrangements  were  made  for  putting 
them  in  a  seminary  near  where  they  were  going  to  re- 
move, so  that  the  mother  could  often  visit  them.  Thus 
passed  two  years  and  the  daughters  graduated.  The 
minister  objected  to  their  coming  home  as  the  holy 
quiet  of  his  home  would  be  disturbed  by  the  advent  of 
two  young  ladies,  and  advised  their  mother  to  send 
them  to  reside  with  a   widowed   sister   of  hers,    in   a 


AND  LIBKRAI.  IJvCTUKKS.  I'u; 

country  town  near  the  sea-coast.  He  assured  his  wife  that  the 
sea' air  wouUl  be  far  more  conducive  to  their  health  than  a 
residence  in  the  city.  Aj^ain  their  mother  complied  under  pro- 
test. As  aj^ent  for  his  wife  in  the  administration  of  her  prop- 
ert}',  he  had  managed  to  control  the  income  so  that  she  had 
very  small  means  at  her  command,  and  in  making  arrange- 
ments for  the  support  of  her  daughters  she  requested  him  to 
furnish  a  stipulated  sum  for  their  maintenance.  This  he  ob- 
jected to,  claiming  that  the  girls  were  well  educated  and  quite 
capable  of  sustaining  themselves.  At  this  she  remonstrated, 
feeling  that  with  the  large  property  she  possessed  that  her 
girls  should  have  a  proper  maintenance;  but  he  coolly  in- 
formed her  that  the  property  she  possessed  became  his  by  his 
marriage  with  her  and  she  had  no  further  control  of  it;  and  as 
no  part  of  it  had  been  willed  to  her  girls,  they  had  no  legal 
claim  to  it,  consequently  the  sooner  the\-  obtained  situations 
the  better,  for  he  should  not  hold  himself  responsible  for  their 
maintenance.  Things  were  in  this  position  when  the  mother, 
worn  down  by  anxiety  and  regret  for  the  step  she  had  taken, 
thereby  depriving  her  daughters  of  the  comforts  of  a  happy 
home  and  generous  maintenance  as  contemplated  and  pro- 
vided by  their  father,  fell  an  easj-  prey  to  fever  and  in  a  few 
days  the  Rev.  Josiah  Williams  received  the  sympathy  of  his 
church  and  the  community  for  his  irreparable  loss. 

The  girls  thus  left  without  mother  or  home,  by  the  advice  of 
friends,  sought  the  interference  of  the  law.  But  what  could  be 
done?  According  to  law  the  property  of  the  wife  reverted  to 
her  husband  at  marriage.  The  subject  became  the  cause  of 
much  scandal,  and  the  girls  were  left  homeless  while  the 
minister  had  full  possession  of  their  father's  wealth. 

Through  his  wealth  the  minister  stood  very  high  in  the 
church,  and  few  were  brave  enough  among  his  members  to 
censure  him.  It  is  hard  to  imagine  a  man  and  a  father,  and 
much  more  a  minister  and  follower  of  the  meek  and  lowly 
Jesus,  to  be  guilty  of  meanness  like  that,  but  it  shows  how 
little  power  the  cleansing  blood  of  Jesus  has. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  the  Rev.  Josiah  Williams 
was  called  to  a  new  field.  He  was  established  in  a  large  city 
and  his  new  society  was  wealthy.  He  was  far  removed  from 
the  late  scandal  and  his  prospects  were  bright.     He  soon  placed 


lyo  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 

his  affectious  iipou  a  beautiful  youug  girl,  who  had  recently 
beeu  left  an  orphan  with  a  quarter  of  a  million  in  her  own 
right.  The  lady  was  outside  of  the  pale  of  the  church  and 
rather  giddy,  but  this  did  not  deter  our  reverend  wife-hunter. 
He  was  a  well-preserved  man,  of  pleasing  address  and  personal, 
and  wealthy  withal.  He  soon  persuaded  the  young  lady  to 
become  a  member  of  his  church  and  in  course  of  time  to  ac- 
cept his  hand  and  assist  him  in  his  arduous  duties. 

Near  the  city  where  resided  our  motherless  girls,  lived  a 
benevolent  gentlemen  whose  home  had  recently  been  made 
desolate  by  the  death  of  a  beloved  daughter.  Upon  hearing 
the  facts  of  the  case,  he  sought  an  introduction  to  the  girls, 
and  invited  them  to  make  his  house  their  home,  as  his  wife 
mourned  for  her  lost  child.  His  offer  was  so  cordial  and  their 
necessities  so  great  they  accepted  it,  and  were  soon  pleasantly 
established  in  the  home  of  [ames  Martin,  Esq.  The  girls  were 
cordially  welcomed,  and  by  their  lady-like,  unassuming  man- 
ners and  their  evident  desire  to  make  themselves  useful  the}' 
soon  became  favorites  of  Mr.  Martin  and  his  wife.  Near  them 
lived  a  family  by  the  of  Burns,  consisting  of  mother  and  three 
daughters.  Mr.  Burns  was  a  traveling  agent  for  an  extensive 
manufacturing  establishment  and  was  seldom  at  home,  and 
was  absent  when  Miss  Jennie  and  Nellie  Stevens  became  mem- 
bers of  the  Martin  family.  During  his  travels  he  visited  the 
town  where  the  Rev.  Josiah  Williams  formerly  lived,  and 
learning  some  of  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  that  the  property 
formerly  belonging  to  INIrs.  Stevens  was  to  be  sold,  he  ad- 
vised Mr.  Martin  of  the  fact  and  together  they  visited  the  town 
and  took  legal  advice  to  see  if  something  could  not  be  done 
to  secure  a  part  of  it  for  the  rightful  heirs.  Great  indignation 
was  expressed  against  the  minister,  who,  under  the  cloak  of 
religion,  could  so  wrong  two  innocent  girls;  but  as  far  as  the 
law  was  concerned  the  Rev.  Josiah  Williams  was  heir  to  all 
of  the  property  of  Alexander  Stevens,  deceased,  and  the  estate 
was  .sold  and  the  money  went  into  his  pocket.  So  failed  the 
efforts  to  secure  the  rights  of  the  orphan  girls  and  they  con- 
tinued to  make  their  home  at  the  Martins.  Jennie  secured  a 
position  as  teacher  in  one  of  the  schools  of  the  town,  but  Mrs. 
Martin  feeling  that  she  could  not  spare  them  both,  Nellie  was 
induced  to  remain  at  home.     Thus  passed   two   years,   when 


AND  LIRERAL  LF.CTUKKS.  lyi 

one  sad  clay  the  doors  of  the  beyoud  opened  and  Mr.  Martin 
passed  through  and  was  seen  no  more.  Mrs.  Martin  clung  to 
Jennie  and  Nellie  as  her  own  children,  and  refused  to  have 
them  leave  her.  When  Mr.  Martin's  will  was  read  it  was 
found  that  he  had  provided  abundantly  for  his  wife  and  also 
for  the  girls.  Tor  this  they  were  grateful,  but  Jennie  continued 
to  teach  while  Nellie  remained  with  Mother  ISIartin,  feeling 
almost  the  same  affection  for  her  that  she  had  felt  for  her  own 
mother.  Here  they  remained,  a  comfort  to  her  who  had  so  be- 
friended them  in  adversity,  until  the  death  of  Mrs.  Martin, 
when  it  was  found  she  divided  her  propertj-  between  them  and 
they  were  well  provided  for. 

The  Rev.  Josiah  Williams  decided  soon  after  his  marriage 
that  he  would  retire  from  the  pulpit,  and  be  free  from  its  lalxirs, 
as  the  salary  was  not  now  a  necessity,  and  his  large  property 
required  his  attention.  lie  accordingly  resigned  his  pastorate  of 
the  church  and  retired  to  private  life.  He  had  invested  large 
sums  in  railroad  stocks  which  were  proving  ver^'  remunerative, 
and  the  quarter  million  which  his  young  wife  had  brought  him 
added  largely  to  his  income.  But  in  the  midst  of  his  pros- 
perity came  the  call  which  all  must  hear,  and  he  was  compelled 
to  pass  beyond  the  veil.     There  we  will  not  follow  him. 


172  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 


THERE'S  ROOM  FOR   ALL. 


Men  build  up  their  worlds  like  poor,  blinded  moles, 
With  just  room  enough  for  their  own  narrow  souls, 
'Tis  plain  to  their  minds  that  black  is  not  white, 
And  there's  only  one  line  'twixt  the   wrong   and   the 

right. 
Firmly  believing  their  creeds  to  be  true, 
The}^  wonder  that  others  don't  think  as  they  do. 
In  the  ages  agone,  they  tortured  each  other. 
And  forced  down  their  creeds  in  the  throat  of  a  brother. 

They  forgot,  in  mechanics,  no  two  clocks   will    strike 

Throughout  all  the  hours  precisely  alike; 

That  our  species,  like  clocks,  are  of  different  kinds. 

And  mankind  are  fashioned  with  various  minds. 

Ah  !  'tis  a  great  truth  to  learn — a  prize,  if  you  win  it, — 

"There's  room  in  the  world  for  all  that  is  in  it." 

This  life  is  a  play,  where  each  human  heart. 

To  make  out  the  denouement,  must  act  out  its  part. 

If  all  men,  like  sheep,  should  follow  one  way. 
Then  life  would,  indeed,  be  a  very  poor  play. 
'Tis  the  law  of  our  being  most  pointedly  shown, 
That  each  man  must  live  out  a  life  of  his  own. 
Ah  !  be  not  too  rash  to  judge  of  another. 
But  ever  remember  that  man  is  vour  brother. 


AND  I.IBEKAI.  IJ-XTURES.  I  7.^ 

God  made  the  owl  see,  where  man's  sight  is  dim, 
And  the  hght  that  guides  you    may    be    darkness    to 
liim. 

"Tis  a  great  truth  to  learn — a  prize,  if  you  win  it, 
"There's  room  in  the  world  for  all  that  is  in  it." 
Our  mission  on  earth  is  well  understood 
To  root  out  the  evil  and  cultivate  good. 
Down,  deep  in  the  innermost  depths  of  the  soul, 
A  voice  ever  sings  of  the  far  distant  goal ; 
And  it  whispers  so  soft,  like  a    faint,    muffled    breath. 
There's   something   within    us    that's    stronger    than 
death  ! 

That  souls  are  but  sown  in  this  hard,  earthy  clod. 

To  blossom  and  bloom  in  the  garden  of  God. 

Oh,  brothers  !  there's  only  one  God  for  us  all, 

But  his  voice  unto  each  makes  a  diflPerent  call. 

Some  see  him  in  rags,  as  Jesus  of  old; 

Some  mitred,  and  blazing  in  purple  and  gold. 

Ah  !  let  us  not  proudly  monopolize  right, 

Nor  demand  of  a  brother  to  .see  with  our  sight. 

'Tis  a  great  truth  to  learn — a  prize  if  you  win  it, — 

"There's  room  in  this  world  for  all  that  is  in  it." 


174  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 


WHO    SHALL    JUDGE? 

Who  shall  judge  man  b}^  his  manner? 

Who  shall  know  him  by  his  dress  ? 
Paupers  may  be  fit  for  princes, 

Princes  fit  for  something  less. 
Crumpled  shirt  and  dirty  jacket 

May  beclothe  the  golden  ore 
Of  the  deepest  thoughts  and  feelings; 

Satin  vests  can  do  no  more, 

There  are  streams  of  crystal  nectar 

Ever  flowing  out  of  stone; 
There  are  purple  beds  and  golden, 

Hidden,  crushed  and  overthrown. 
God,  who  counts  by  souls,  not  dresses, 

Loves  and  prospers  j^ou  and  me, 
While  he  values  thrones  the  highest 

But  as  pebbles  in  the  sea. 

Man  upraised  above  his  fellows 

Oft  forgets  his  fellows  then; 
Masters — rulers — lords,  remember 

That  your  meanest  hinds  are  men  ! 
Men  of  labor,  men  of  feeling, 

Men  of  thought  and  men  of  fame, 
Claiming  equal  rights  to  sunshine 

In  a  man's  ennobling  name. 


AND  LIBKRAL  LKCTUKKS.  1 75 

There  are  foain-eiubroidcrcd  oceans, 

There  are  little  wood-clad  rills; 
There  are  feeble  inch-high  sappling^^ 

There  are  cedars  on  the  hills; 
God,  who  counts  by  souls,  not  stations, 

lyOves  and  prospers  you  and  nie; 
For  to  him  all  vain  distinctions 

Are  as  pebbles  in  the  sea. 

Toiling  hands  alone  are  builders 

Of  a  nations  wealth  and  fame, 
Titled  laziness  is  pensioned, 

Fed  and  fattened  on  the  same; 
By  the  sweat  of  others'   foreheads. 

Living  only  to  rejoice. 
While  the  poor  man's  outraged  freedom 

Vainly  lifts  its  feeble  voice. 

Truth  and  justice  are  eternal, 

Born  with  loveliness  and  light: 
Secret  wrongs  shall  never  piosper 

While  there  is  a  sunny  right. 
God,  whose  world-wide  voice  is  singing 

Boundless  love  to  you  and  me; 
Links  oppression  with  its  titles 

But  as  pebbles  in  the  sea. 


176  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 


THE    PEOPLE'S    ADYEHT. 


'Tis  coming  up  the  steep  of  time, 

And  this  old  world  is  growing  brighter; 
We  may  not  see  its  dawn  sublime, 

Yet  high  hope  makes  the  heart  throb  lighter. 
Our  dust  may  slumber  in  the  ground 

When  it  awakes  the  world  in  wonder; 
But  we  have  felt  it  gathering  round — 

We  have  heard  its  voice  of  living  thunder  ! 
'Tis  coming  !  yes,  'tis  coming  ! 

'Tis  coming  now,  the  glorious  time 

Foretold  by  seers  and  sung  in  storj^ 
For  wdiich,  when  thinking  was  a  crime, 

Souls  leaped  to  Heaven  from  scaffolds'  gory. 
They  passed;  but  see  the  work  they  wrought; 

Now  the  crowded  hopes  of  centuries  blossom; 
How  the  live  lightning  of  their  thought 

Is  flashing  through  us,  brain  and  bosom  ! 
'Tis  coming  !  3'es,  'tis  coming! 

Creeds,  empires,  systems,  rot  with  age, 
But  the  great  people's  ever  youthful. 

And  it  shall  w'rite  the  Future's  page, 
To  our  humanity  more  truthful; 

The  gnarliest  heart  hath  tender  cords 
To  awaken  to  the  name  of  "Brother!" 


AXD  I.IlilCKAI,  I.KCTrRKS.  177 

'Tis  coining  wiien  the  scor])ion  words 
We  sliall  not  speak  to  sting  each  other  ! 
'Tis  coming,  yes,  'tis  coming  ! 

Out  of  the  hght,  ye  priests,  nor  fling 

Your  dark,  cold  shadows  on  us  longer  I 
Aside,  thou  world-wide  curse,  called  king  ! 

The  people's  step  is  quicker,  stronger. 
There's  a  divinity  within 

That  makes  men  greater  when'er  they  will  it: 
God  works  with  all  who  dare  to  win. 

And  the  time  cometh  to  reveal  it. 
'Tis  coming,  yes,  'tis  coming! 

Freedom  !  the  tyrants  kill  thy  braves. 

Yet  in  our  memories  live  the  sleepers; 
And,  though  doomed  millions  feed  the  graves 

Dug  by  Death's  fierce  red-handed  reapers. 
The  world  will  not  forever  bow 

To  things  that  mock  God's  own  endeavor  ! 
"Tis  nearer  than  we  wot  of  now. 

When  flowers  shall  wreathe  the  sword  forever. 
'Tis  coming,  yes,  'tis  coming  ! 

Fraternity,  Love's  other  name. 

Dear,  heaven-connecting  link  of  being; 
Then  shall  we  grasp  thy  golden  dream. 

As  souls,  full  statured,  grow  far-.seeing; 
Thou  shalt  unfold  our  better  part. 

And  in  our  life-cup  yield  more  honey — 
Light  up  with  joy  the  poor  man's  heart. 

And  Love's  own  world  with  smile's  more  sunn\ . 
'Tis  coming  I  yes.  'tis  coming! 


1 78  FREE  THOUGHT  POEMS 

Ay,  it  must  come  !     The  Tyrant's  throne 

Is  crumbling,  with  our  hot  tears  rusted; 
The  sword  earth's  mighty  have  leant  on 

Is  cankered,  with  our  best  blood  crusted  ! 
Room  for  the  men  of  mind  !     Make  way, 

Ye  robber  rulers  !   pause  no  longer  ! 
Ye  cannot  b*tay  the  opening  day  ! 

The  world  rolls  on — the  light  grows  stronger, 
The  People's  Advent's  coming  ! 


^.-1i^ 


THE  SIN   OF    OMISSION. 


It  isn't  the  things  you  do,  dear. 

It's  the  things  you  leave  undone, 
Which  gives  you  a  bit  of  heartache 

At  the  setting  of  the  sun. 
The  tender  word  forgotten, 

The  letter  you  did  not  write. 
The  flower  you  might  have  sent,  dear, 

Are  your  haunting  ghosts  to-night. 

The  stone  you  might  have  lifted 

Out  of  a  brother's  waj^, 
The  bit  of  heartsome  counsel 

You  are  hurried  too  much  to  say. 
The  loving  touch  of  the  hand,  dear. 


AND  LIBKRAI,  l.KCTUKKS.  I79 

The  gentle  and  winsome  tone, 
That  you  had  no  time  nor  thought  for. 
With  troubles  enough  of  your  own. 

These  little  acts  of  kindness, 

So  easily  out  of  mind, 
These  chances  to  be  angels, 

Which  even  mortals  find — 
They  come  in  night  and  silence. 

Each  chill,  reproachful  wraith, 
When  hope  is  faint  and  flagging. 

And  a  blight  has  dropped  on  faith. 

For  life  is  all  too  short,  dear, 

And  sorrow  is  all  too  great. 
To  suffer  our  slow  compassion 

That  tarries  until  too  late. 
And  it's  not  the  things  you  do,  dear, 

It's  the  things  you  leave  undone. 
Which  gives  you  the  bitter  heartache 

At  the  setting  of  the  sun. 


iSo  FKKE  THOUGHT    POEMS 


WHAT  RULES   THE  WORLD? 


The}^  say  that  man  is  mighty, 

He  governs  land  and  sea, 
He  wields  a  mighty  sceptre 

O'er  lesser  powers  that  be; 
But  a  power  mightier,  stronger, 

Man  from  his  throne  has  hurled, 
' '  For  the  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle 

Is  the  hand  that  rules  the  world." 

In  deep,  mj-sterious  conclave, 

'Mid  philosophic  minds, 
Unravelling  knotty  problems, 

His  native  forte  man  finds: 
Yet  all  his  "  ics  "  and  "  isms  " 

To  heaven's  four  winds  are  hurled, 
' '  For  the  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle 

Is  the  hand  that  rules  the  world. ' ' 

Behold  the  brave  commander, 

Stanch  'mid  the  carnage  stand, 
Behold  the  guidon  dying, 

With  the  colors  in  his  hand. 
Brave  men  they  be,  yet  craven 

When  this  banner  is  unfurled, 
' '  The  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle 

Is  the  hand  that  rules  the  world." 


AXD  IJHKKAL    IJXTrRKS.  iSl 

Great  statesmen  govern  nations. 

Kings  mould  a  people's  fate, 
But  the  unseen  hand  of  velvet 

These  giants  regulate. 
The  iron  arm  of  tortune 

With  woman's  charm  is  purled, 
For  the  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle 

Is  the  hand  that  rules  the  world." 


WE  SHALL   KMOW. 


When  the  mists  have  rolled  in  splendor, 

From  the  beauty  of  the  hills, 
And  the  sunshine,  warm  and  tender, 

Falls  in  kisses  on  the  rills. 
We  may  read  love's  shining  letter, 

In  the  rainbow  of  the  spray ; 
We  shall  know  each  other  better 

When  the  mists  have  cleared  away. 
We  shall  know  as  we  are  known 
Nevermore  to  walk  alone 
In  the  dawning  of  the  morning, 

When  the  mists  have  cleared  away. 

If  we  err  in  human  blindness. 
And  forget  that  we  are  dust, 

If  we  miss  the  law  of  kindness, 
When  we  struggle  to  be  just. 


1 82  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

Snowy  wings  of  peace  shall  cover 

All  the  pain  that  clouds  our  day, 
When  the  weary  watch  is  over; 
And  the  mists  have  cleared  away, 
We  shall  know  as  we  are  known, 
Nevermore  to  walk  alone. 
In  the  dawning  of  the  morning, 
When  the  mists  have  cleared  away. 

When  the  silvery  mists  have  veiled  us 

From  the  faces  of  our  own, 
Oft  we  deem  their  love  has  failed  us, 

And  we  tread  our  path  alone; 
We  should  see  them  near  and  truly, 

We  should  trust  them  day  by  day, 
Netiher  love  nor  blame  undul}^, 

Till  the  mists  have  rolled  away. 
We  shall  know  as  we  are  known, 
Nevermore  to  walk  alone, 
In  the  dawning  of  the  morning. 

When  the  mists  have  cleared  away. 


AND  LIUKKAI.    LI-XTUKKS.  183 


WHAT  IS  INFIDELITY? 


An  Infidel  !    how  easy  said, 

But  wherefore  comes  tlie  name  ? 

What  is  "an  infidel  ?"    I  ask, 
And  is  it  cause  fpr  shame  ? 

Is  it  to  take  for  truth  and  right. 
What  reason  has  weighed  well  ? 

To  "prove  all  things,  hold  fast  the  good?" 
Then  am  I  infidel. 

Is  it  to  trust  with  fearless  faith 

The  God  within  the  soul; 
Heeding  the  voice  that  speaks  therein. 

Spurning  all  false  control  ? 

Trusting  in  inspiration  p^st, 

In  inspiration  now — 
Selecting  wheat  from  out  the  chafi", 

Where'er  it  conies  or  how? 

Believing  that  Heaven  oft  lifts  the  soul. 

With  promptings  pure  and  high  ? 
If  this,  all  this,  be  infidel, 

Then  infidel  am  I.  12 


1 84  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 

Unflinchingly  I  face  the  scorn, 
Freely. accept  the  shame; 

For,  if  "an  infidel"  means  this 
I  glory  in  the  name. 

With  angels  breathing  round  me  oft. 
With  hopes  most  high  tQ  cheer, 

With  earnest  striving  after  truth, 
I  cannot  stoop  to  fear. 

Tho'  oft  I  meet  with  those  I  deem 
Fast  bound  in  error's  thrall, 

I  pray  that  charity  be  mine. 
For  we  are  erring  all. 

With  love  to  God  and  love  to  man, 
To  justice,  truth  and  right. 

Heaven  grant  I  ne'er  be  infidel 
To  past  or  present  light. 

To  creed-bound  dogmas,  false  tho'  old, 

I've  bid  a  last  adieu; 
Your  fetters  ne'er  can  bind  my  soul — 

I'm  infidel  to  you. 


AND  I.IHIiKAL   I.PXTURES.  185 


MEMORY  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 


Oh,  Memory,  ancient  guest  to-night,  unclasp  tliy  pages 

clear. 
And  let  us  read,  in  lines  of  light,   the    name    that    we 

revere ; 
Like  some  great  panorama  wrought,  the  pictures  thou 

shalt  bring,  « 

By  glowing,  daring  deeds  were  bought,    and    patriots 

round  them  cling. 
Joined  by  humanitarian  ties,  we  celebrate  this  hour — 
The  birthda}'  of  the  soul  we  prize,  who  left  us  wealth 

and  power, 
The  wealth  of  thought,  the  power  of  truth  the  "Age  of 

Reason"  reign. 
That  joins   to-night    the   sire  and  youth    in   blessing 

Thomas  Paine. 

The  Quaker   element   within    throbbed    faster   in    his 

breast. 
It  wore    no  fetter,  sang  no  hynni  that  bore  a  servile 

part. 
What  tho'  old  England's  sea-girt  shore  can  claim    his 

natal  time. 
Above  the  great  Atlantic's  roar  still  speak  his   words 

sublime: 


1 86  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 

That  thro'  a  century  have  stood,  grand  as  when    first 

unfurled — 
"Religion  is  but  doing  good,  my  country  is  the  world." 
Thus  by  his  words,  his  acts,  his  life,  our  freedom  and 

our  gain. 
We  hail   him    Brother   thro'    all   strife,    the    Patriot, 

Thomas  Paine. 

Humane,  consistent,  just  and  kind,  what  wonder  that 
he  saw 

No  truth  within  a  God  whose  mind  outraged  each 
sense  and  law; 

A  God  who  tortured,  murdered,  lied,  revenged  and 
cursed  and  changed, 

Could  not  be  revererffced  with  pride,  from  love  must  be 
estranged. 

But  Nature's  voice  in  shining  sk}-,  the  law  in  grassy 
sod. 

With  principles  that  never  die,  revealed  to  him  a  God. 

Whose  unchanged  wisdom  was  divine,  creative  with- 
out strain. 

And  so  when  science  reared  her  shrine,  there  wor- 
shiped Thomas  Paine. 

While  manly  hearts  to-day  may  beat  more  free  for 
what  he's  done, 

It  rests  with  ages  to  complete  the  work  that  he  be- 
gun. 

The  same  old  spirit  of  the  past,  that  placed  him  in  a 
cell. 

Flames  with  a  persecution  vast  as  theologic  hell; 

"The  Crisis"  coming  just  at  hand,  proclaim  the  old 
pollution, 


AND  I.IUKRAI.  I.KCTUKES.  I87 

For  bigots  strive  to  place  with  liands,  "God  in  tl'.c 
Constitution." 

Our  Fathers  fought  against  this  plea,  this  shameful, 
deadly  bane — 

Up  freemen!  claim  "The  Rights  of  Man,"  like  fear- 
less Thomas  Paine. 

Hail  thou  to  him  whose  thrilling  words  moved  nation> 
on  their  way; 

His  "Common  Sense"  will  yet  be  held  o'er  super- 
stition's .sway. 

The  patriot,  martvr,  teacher,  man,  lives  here  in  heart> 
of  all. 

And  yet  no  eyes  his  face  shall  scan  in  Independence 
Hall.  * 

Then  underneath  red,  white  and  blue  this  motto  fast 
we'll  Innd: 

"Our  Bible  in  the  truth  we  view,  our  God  within  man- 
kind." 

Each  year  this  day  to  us  endeared,  for  centuries  may 
it  reign. 

While  freedom's  children  give  three  cheers  for  truth 
and  Thomas  Paine.  . 


•■  The  picture  of  I'aine  has  been  reinnveil  from  Imlopemlcnoe  Hall, 
where  it  was  formerly  ph.eeil  with  others  who  sorvi-d  Aineriea  In  her 
time  of  need. 


FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


LOVE    ME    ROW. 


If  you're  ever  going  to  love  me 

Love  me  now,  while  I  can  know 
All  the  sweet  and  tender  feelings 

Which  from  real  affection  flow. 
Love  nie  now  while  I  am  living, 

Do  not  wait  till  I  am  gone, 
And  then  chissel  it  in  marble — 

Warm  love-words  on  ice-cold  stone. 

If  you've  dear,  sweet  thoughts  about  me. 

Why  not  whisper  them  to  me  ? 
Don't  you  know  'twould  make  me  happy. 

And  as  glad  as  glad  can  be  ? 
If  you  wait  till  I  am  sleeping, 

Ne'er  to  waken  here  again, 
There'll  be  walls  of  earth  between  us. 

And  I  couldn't  hear  you  then. 

If  you  knew  some  one  was  thirsting 

For  a  drop  of  water  sweet. 
Would  you  be  so  slow  to  bring  it  ? 

Would  you  step  with  laggard  feet  ? 
There  are  tender  hearts  all  round  us 

Who  are  thirsting  for  our  love; 
Shall  we  begrudge  to  them  what  heaven 

Has  kindly  sent  us  from  above? 


AND  I,IBP:RAL  I.KCTl'KKS.  1 89 

I  won't  need  your  kind  caresses 

When  the  grass  grows  o'er  my  face; 
I  won't  crave  your  love  or  kisses 

In  my  last,  low  resting  place. 
So  if  you  do  love  me  any, 

If  it's  but  a  little  bit. 
I'd  rather  know  it  now,  while  I 

Can,  living,  own  and  treasure  it. 


♦ , »- >—  H \  r'      » 


THERE    IS    NO    DEATH. 


There  is  no  death  !     The  stars  go  down 

To  rise  upon  some  fairer  shore. 
And  bright  in  heaven's  jeweled  crown 

They  shine  for  evermore. 

There  is  no  death  !     The  dust  we  tread 
Shall  change  beneath  the  summer  showers 

To  golden  grain,  or  mellow  fruit, 
Or  rainbow-tinted  flowers. 

The  granite  rocks  disorganize 

To  feed  the  hungry  moss  they  bear; 

The  fairest  leaves  drink  daily  life 
From  out  the  viewless  air. 

There  is  no  death  !     The  leaves  may  fall. 

The  flowers  may  fade  and  pass  away; 
They  only  wait  through  wintry  hours 

The  coming  of  the  Mav. 


190  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

There  is  no  death  !     An  angel  form 
Walks  o'er  the  earth  with  silent  tread; 

He  bears  our  best  loved  things  away, 
And  then  we  call  them  "dead." 

He  leaves  our  hearts  all  desolate; 

He  plucks  our  fairest,  sweetest  flowers; 
Transplanted  into  bliss,  they  now 

Adorn  immortal  bowers. 

The  birdlike  voice,  whose  joyous  tones 
Made  glad  this  scene  of  sin  and  strife. 

Sings  now  in  evei  lasting  song 
Amid  the  tree  of  life. 

And  when  he  sees  a  smile  too  bright. 
Or  heart  too  pure  for  taint  and  vice, 

He  bears  it  to  that  world  of  light. 
To  dwell  in  paradise. 

Born  into  that  undying  life. 

They  leave  us  but  to  come  again: 

With  joy  we  welcome  them,  the  same 
Except  in  sin  and  pain. 

And  ever  near  us,  though  unseen, 
The  dear  immortal  spirits  tread, 

For  all  the  boundless  universe 
Is  life;  there  are  no  dead. 


AND  LIHKRAI.    LKCTTRKS.  lyJ 


Keep  Your   Faces  to  the  Light. 

There's  a  ringing,  glorious  measure 
In  the  march  of  hfe,  my  brothers; 

If  we  Hsten,  we  may  hear  it  all  day  long. 
With  an  undertone  of  triumph 
No  discordance  wholly  smothers, 

And  this  is  the  cheerful  burden  of  the  song: 

"  Forward  I  keep  the  column  moving  I 
Perfect  rest  shall  be  our  guerdon 

When  our  missions  are  fulfilled — our  labors  done  ; 
Duty's  path  lies  plain  before  us. 
Whatsoe'er  our  task  and  burden, 

If  we   bravely  set  our  faces  to  the  sun. 

"Disappointments  may  o'ertake  us. 
Losses,  griefs,  and  grim  surpri.ses 

May  assault  us  in  the  weary  wa}-  we  go; 
Look  not  back;  but  onward,  ever, 
Lo  !  the  goal  before  us  rises. 

And  the  valley  of  the  shadow  lies  ])elow  ! 

With  a  hand  to  help  the  fallen. 
Where  the  rugged  steeps  delay  us. 

Though  the  reddening  summits  warn  us  of  the  night. 
We  shall  conquer  all  the  evils 
That  assault  us  and  betray  us. 
While  we  keep  our  faces  bravely  to  the  light ! 


192  fri:e  thought  poems 

"Steady  !  keep  the  ranks  in  motion  ! 
Though  we  be  only  retrieving 

The  disasters  and  mistakes  of  yesterday. 
There  is  shame  in  dull  inaction, 
There  is  glorj'  in  achieving 

If  we  take  one  step  on  the  upward  way  ! 

Day  by  day  the  distance  dwindles, 
Foot  by  foot  the  steeps  surrender, 

And  we  dread  no  more  the  barriers  overpast; 
While  we  breathe  the  air  serene. 
And  our  eyes  behold  the  splendor 
.     Of  the  gates  where  we  shall  enter  in  at  last. 

Roadside  thorns  may  rend  and  goad  us, 
Driving  mist  and  clouds  may  blind  us, 

As  we  struggle  up  the  last  stupendous  height; 
But  remember,  and  take  courage, 
All  life's  shadows  lie  behind  us, 

If  we  keep  our  faces  bravely  to  the  light." 


AND  LIBERAL  LECTURES.  I93 


THE  MORTGAGE  ON  THE  FARM. 


We   worked    through    Spring    and    Winter,     through 

Summer  and  through  Fall; 
But  the  mortgage  worked  the  hardest  and  the  steadiest 

of  us  all; 
It  worked  on    nights    and  Sundays;    it    worked   each 

holiday; 
It  settled  down  among  us  and  never  went  away. 
Whatever  we  kept  from  it  seemed    a 'most   as    bad    as 

theft; 
It  watched  us  every  minute,  and  it  ruled  us  right  and 

lett. 
The  rust  and   blight   were    with    us   sometimes,    and 

sometimes  not; 
The  dark-browed,  scowling  mortgage  was  forever   on 

the  .spot. 

The  weevil  and  the  cut- worm,   they  went    as   well    as 

came ; 
The  mortgage  staid  on  forever,  eating  hearty    all    the 

.same. 
It  nailed  up  every  window,  stood  guard  at  every  door, 
And  happiness  and  sunshine  made  their  home  with  us 

no  more. 
Till  with  failing  crops   and    sickness    we    got   stalled 

upon  the  grade, 
And  there  came  a  dark  day  on  us  when    the    interest 

wasn't  paid; 


194  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 

And  there  came  a  sharp  foreclosure,  and  I  kind  o'   lost 

my  hold 
And  grew  weary  and  discouraged,   and  the  farm    was 

cheaply  sold. 

The  children  left  and  scattered  when  they  hardly  yet     ^ 

was  grown;  * 

My  wife  she  pined  and  perished,   and  I  found   myself 

alone. 
What  she  died  of  was  "a  mystery,"   and   the   doctors 

never  knew; 
But  I  knew  she  died  of  mortgage— just  as  well   as    I 

wanted  to. 
If  to  trace  a  hidden  sorrow  were  within    the    doctor's 

art. 
They'd  ha'  found  a  mortgage  lying  on   that   woman's     , 

broken  heart.  ^ 

Worm  or  beetle,  drouth  or  tempest,  on  a  farmer's  land 

may  fall; 
But  for  first-class  ruination,   trust  a    mortgage    'gainst 

them  all. 


AND     LIBERAL     LECTURES.  iy5 


ON    CREATION. 


Prior  to  the  great  beginning, 

When  there  was  no  heaven  or  earth, 
When  there  was  no  starlight— sunhght- 

When  creation  had  no  birth; 
When  a  black  and  boundless  nothing 

Breathless,  hfeless,  round  Him  fell. 
What  occurred  to  wake  His  slumber? 

What  was  there  to  break  His  spell  ? 

Breathless,  cheerless,  all-per\  ading, 

Starless,  worthless,  boundless  night, 
Was  the  nothbig  at  beginning, 

Out  of  which  sprang  worlds  of  light, 
Out  of  which  were  made  the  heavens — 

Countless  worlds,  remote  and  near, 
And  all  living,  moving  creatures 

In  the  depths  of  sea  or  air. 

Yet  we  know  not  what  aroused  Him 

To  begin  the  mighty  plan 
Of  creation  in  its  vastness, 

Forming  lastly  sinful  man. 
Why  did  he  not  leave  great  nothing 

In  its  harmless  silent  .space, 
Rather  than  make  man  so  sinful 

As  to  damn  the  human  race  ? 

But  'tis  said  that  man  was  sinless 
Until  tempted,  when  he  fell- 


196  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

Tempted  by  a  slimy  serpent 

Crawling  from  the  depths  of  hell; 

Pure  and  spotless  as  the  lily 
In  its  early  opening  bloom, 

Until  tempted  by  the  devil 

To  the  shade  of  sin  and  gloom. 

When  that  black  and  boundless  nothing 

Harmless,  lifeless,  round  Him  fell, 
Why  did  God  create  the  devil 

Or  conceive  an  endless  hell  ? 
If  creation  sent  forth  evil. 

Or  an  evil  comes  of  good. 
Then  where  is  the  point  dividing 

Satan's  works  from  works  of  God  ? 

When  there  was  no  sunlight — moonlight. 

When  there  was  no  heaven  or  hell; 
When  there  was  no  place  for  sinning, 

Or  for  sinful  man  to  dwell, 
Why  was  silence  ever  broken  ? 

Why  was  man  to  weakness  born  ? 
Why  were  devils  made  to  tempt  him 

And  then  leave  him  here  to  mourn? 

Vast  and  searching  are  these  questions, 

Piercing,  probing  to  the  core, 
Peering  back  beyond  creation 

To  great  nothing — nothing  more. 
Vast,  though  simple,  is  the  question 

Piercing,  probing  to  the  core; 
Is  it  true  there  once  was  nothing, 

Nothing,  nothing,  nothing  more  ? 


AND  LIHICKAI.  I.IXTURES.  I97 


WHY  IS  THIS? 


When  the  latid  is  full  of  workers, 

Busy  hands  and  active  brains, 
When  the  craftsmen  and  the  thinkers 

Feel  about  them  binding  chains. 
When  the  laborers  are  cheated 

Of  the  work  their  hands  have  wro't, 
And  the  thinker,  vain  of  logic, 

Sees  that  reason  comes  to  naught. 

When  the  forces  men  have  harnessed, 

And  have  trained  to  do  their  will, 
Ought  to  leave  no  homeless  people, 

And  no  hungry  mouths  to  fill, 
But  have  prov'd  to  be  the  servants 

Of  the  shrewd  and  selfish  few. 
And  the  many  get  but  little 

For  the  work  they  find  to  do. 

When  the  labor  of  a  million 

Goes  to  swell  the  gains  of  one, 
As  the  serfs  of  ancient  Egypt 

Slaved  beneath  a  burning  sun; 
When  the  schemer  and  the  sharper 

Hold  the  wealth  and  rule  the  land, 
Using  up  the  thinker's  brain  force. 

Mortgaging  the  craftman's  hand. 


FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 

When  the  many  shear  the  sheep, 

And  the  few  secure  the  wool; 
When  the  gallows  claims  its  victims 

And  your  costly  jails  are  full; 
Then  the  men  who  dreamed  of  progress, 

And  the  hopes  of  peace  and  bliss, 
While  they  weep  and  wonder  vainly, 

Ask  each  other:   "Why  is  this?" 

Then  the  thinker,  while  confessing 

That  his  vision  yet  is  dim, 
Says  that  one  thing,  very  clearly. 

Is  apparent  unto  him — 
That  the  people,  blind  and  heedless. 

Place  themselves  beneath  the  rule 
Either  of  the  knavish  schemer. 

Or,  still  worse,  the  sodden  fool. 


AND  MRKKAL    LKCTIKKS.  I  99 


MR.    DE    SPLAE. 


It  may  seem  a  strange  question,  good  people,  but  say. 
Did  you  never  hear  tell  of  our  Mr.  De  Splae? 
A  man  who  made  up  for  the  lack  of  good  sense 
By  a  wondrous  amount  of  mere  show  and  pretense; 
Puffed  up  with  conceit  like  an  airy  balloon. 
He  was  hard  to  approach  as  the   "man  in  the  moon," 
Save  when  for  some  purpose  it  came  in  his  way, 
And  then.  O  how  gracious  was  Mr.  Dc  Splae  ! 

A  sly  politician,  a  popular  man, 

When  all  things  went  smoothly  he  marshaled  the  van: 

But  when  there  was  aught  like  a  failure  to  fear, 

He  quickly  deserted  or  fell  to  the  rear. 

His  speech  for  the  people  went  "gayly  and  glib," 

While  he  drew  his  support  from  the  National  crib; 

But  when  an  as.sessment  or  tax  was  to  pay, 

O,  how  outraged  and  angry  was  Mr.  De  Splae  ! 

He  smoked,   and  he  cliewed,   and  he    drank,    and   he 

swore ; 
But  then  every  man  whom  the  ladies  adore. 
Is  prone  to  these  faiiings — .some  more  and  some    less. 
Which  are  all  overlooked  in  a  man  of  address. 
It  also  was  whispered  that  he  had  betrayed 
The  too  trusting  faith  ot  an  innocent  maid; 
But  the  ladies  all  blamed  /ar  for  going  astray, 
While  they  pardoned  and  petted — "dear  Mr.  De  Splae.'* 


200  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

There  was  good  Mr.  Honest,  who  lived  but  next  door, 
He  was  true,  and  substantial,  and  sound  to  the   core; 
He  had  made  it  the  rule  of  his  life,    from   his   youth, 
To  shun  all  evasions  and  speak  the  plain  truth; 
But  the  ladies — who  always  are  judges,  you  know. 
Declared  him  to  be  a  detestable  beau — 
Not  worthy  to  be  mentioned  within  the  same  day. 
With  W\-3X  pink  of  pcrfcctio7i — "dear  Mr.  De  Splae." 

And  5^et  he  was  pious — perhaps  you  will  smile. 
And  ask  how  he  happened  the  church  to  beguile; 
Why,  the  churches  accept  men  for  better  or  worse. 
If  there's  only  a  plenty  of  cash  in  the  purse. 
Gold  still  buys  remission  as  freely  and  fast, 
As  it  did  in  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  past. 
'Tis  the  same  thing  right  over,  and  that  was  the  way. 
That  the  church  swallowed  smoothly  ''good  Mr.    De 
Splae." 

O,  you  ought  to   have   heard   him    when    leading   in 

praj-er  ! 
How  he  flattered  the  Father  of  All  for  His  care. 
And  confessed  he  was  sinful  a  thousand  times  o'er, 
Which  'twas  morally  certain  the  Lord  knew  before. 
The  ladies  responded  in  sweet  litttle  sighs, 
With  their  elegant  handkerchiefs  pressed  to  their  eyes. 
But  the  pure,  unseen  spirits  turned  sadly  away 
From  the  loud-mouthed  devotions  of  Mr.  De  Splae. 

O,  short-sighted  mortal !     Poor  Mr.  De  Splae  ! 

His  mask  of  deception  was  molded  in  clay. 

And  when  his  external  in  death  was  let  fall. 

What  he  was,  without  seeming,   was  known  unto  all. 


AND  LIBERAL  LKCTURES.  20I 

His  gannent  of  patches — his  flimsy  disguise — 
Which  had  won  him  distinction  in  other  men's  eyes, 
Was  "changed  in  a  twinkling" — ay,  vanished  away, 
Leaving  nothing  to  boast  of  to  Mr.  De  Splae. 

Ah,  a  great  reputation,  a  tiltle,  or  name, 

Oft  brings  its  possessor  to  sorrow  and  shame; 

But  a  chayadcr,  founded  in  goodness  and  worth, 

Outlasts  all  the  perishing  glories  of  earth. 

O'er  the  frailties  of  nature,  and  changes  ot  time, 

It  rises  majestic,  in  beauty  sublime, 

Till  the  weak  and  faint-hearted  are  cheered  by  its  ray, 

Far  above  all  mere  seeming  and  empty  display. 


202  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 


DAVE'S    HOLLYHOCKS, 


"Those  hollyhocks  down  by  the  creek,  Mrs.  Wixoin,  how 
(lid  they  come  there  ?" 

"Now  lay  off  your  bonnet,  Miss  Johns,  and  I'll  tell  you  the 
how  and  the  why.  Don't  wonder  you  ask;  'taint  often  they're 
found  in  the  woods.  'Taint  their  way,  such  handsome  ones 
and  so  double.     Do  lay  ofifj'our  bonnet  and  stay. 

"I  always  set  store  by  them  posies,  them  and  pineys  and 
lilacs,  don't  have  to  put  your  specks  on  to  see  them.  Well,  I 
sent  for  the  seed  of  them  hollyhocks  down  into  Jersey  to  Mrs. 
Morris,  and  she  wrote  me  what  color  they  were  and  how  many 
and  sent  them  down  by  mail.  Dave,  he  brought  home  the 
letter  bnt  never  a  package,  and  said  he  hadn't  seed  none,  and 
directly  he  traveled  up  chamber  to  bed.  Next  morning  I  went 
to  the  office,  but  never  said  boo,  'bout  the  facts  of  the  case. 
The  mail  man  referred  me  to  Dave,  then  I  knew  Dave  lied. 
I  argued  the  case  in  my  mind  whether  to  let  on  to  the  Deacon, 
that's  father,  but  father's  inclined  to  be  rather  hard  on  trans-, 
gressors,  and  Dave  was  a  limb,  so  I  decided  to  settle  the 
matter  independent  with  him.  But  I  found  him  curled  up  iq 
the  kitchen,  a  shivering  and  shaking,  and  straight  I  went  to 
boiling  up  boneset,  and  my  lecture  I  'lowed  it  could  wait. 

"It  was  proper  sickly  that  April,  the  sun  kept  shining  and 
shining,  and  the  wind  it  hung  in  the  north  and  would  not 
shift  ary  way,  and  the  farmers  all  round  were  behind  with 
their  work,  but  they  spaded  heaps  and  heaps  in  the  burying 
ground. 

"Well,  Dave,  he  sickened  for  certain,  and  one  week  from 
that  sunshiny  da\-,  when  I  found  him  humped  up  in  the 
kitchen,  the  doctor  said  on  going  away,  'I've  done  all  I  can 
Mrs.  Wixom,  'tis  the  will  of  the  Lord,  let  us  bow  to  His  will,' 
then  he  whistled  and  chirruped  to  his  horse  and  drove  away. 
It  seemed  all  dark  as  though  there  vyas  nq  sun  in  the  heavens, 


1 


AND  I.IIJKKAL  I.KCTrRKS.  203 

aud  I  stood  and  held  on  to  the  door  jainhs  with  both  bands 
and  fit  off  a  faint.  When  I  could,  I  crept  hack  shaky-like  aud 
found  Dave  asleep  and  he  looked  that  white  and  that  strange — 
ah,  thfc  doctor  was  right. 

"I  was  brought  up  proper  strict,  and  the  Deacon  was  strong 
ou  original  sin,  and  election,  aud  wrath,  and  the  judgment, 
aud  man's  tetotal  badness  within,  and  the  terrible  fate  of  the 
sinner.  It  went  through  my  brain  like  a  flame,  that  Dave 
must  go  into  the  valley  with  that  lie  on  his  soul,  and  that 
solemn  moment  he  woke;  then  I  nursed  him  a  little,  and  said, 
'My  dear  boy,  'twould  be  well  to  tell  mother  what  you  did 
with  them  hollyhock  seed.'  I  waited.  Dave  laid  there,  his 
eyes  like  two  stars,  and  I  knew  he  understood  all  aud  he  said: 
"  Don't  bother  me  askin,  for,  Miss  Mother,  I  never  will  tell." 
"And  he  wouldn't,  and  didn't.  He  slept  through  the  night 
off  and  on,  and  father  and  I  we  watched.  At  sunrise  he  smiled 
happy  like  aud  was  gone. 

"  INIost  stories  end  here.  Heaped  and  covered  with  sod, 
every  grave  has  the  look  of  that  one  little  Latin  word  Jiuts, 
that  is  placed  at  the  end  of  a  book. 

"  Now  the  rest  you  must  take  for  what  it  is  worth.  I  was 
down  at  the  mouth  and  distressed;  could  it  be,  with  that  smile 
ou,  that  Dave  had  gone  into  torments  ?  But  what  else  could  I 
hope  or  expect  ?  The  scriptures  spoke  sharp  on  that  subject 
aud  plain.  I  was  wretched,  aud  father  rebuked  me  for  doul)t- 
ing.  Never  in  my  life  had  I  doubted;  alas,  'twas  believin'  that 
struck  to  my  heart  like  knife. 

"Well,  that  year  passed,  and  the  next,  aud  last  spring  we 
determined  to  go  down  to  Boston  to  see  sister  Hannah,  and 
Boston,  you  probably  know,  is  just  crowded  with  people  be- 
lievin' in  spirits;  and  Hannah  was  one,  unbeknown  to  the 
Deacon  or  me,  and  she  never  let  on,  not  one  word  ou  that  pint. 
But  one  evening  they  had  a  caller,  a  little  chinned  man,  with 
his  hair  parted  straight  down  the  middle,  and  when  he  was 
seated  he  began,  lofty  like,  talking  spirits  to  Hannah.  I  was 
shocked,  but  the  Deacon  bore  up  strong  and  steady,  like  the 
face  of  a  meetiu'  house  clock,  and  glanced  down  the  street, 
unconcerned  like,  a  readiu'  the  signs,  when  the  man  took  a 
fit,  seized  a  pencil,  and  scratched  off  these  queer  lookin'  lines, 


204  FREE  THOUGHT  POEMS 

aud  tossed  them  to  Hannah  and  pointed  to  me;  and  her  hus- 
band sat  with  open  mouth  aud  eyes  takin'  it  in;  'twas  as  good 
as  a  show.  Well,  I  decided  I  would  not  open  that  paper  in  a 
hurry,  and  I  held  it  shut  tight  in  my  hand  while  that  medium 
went  on  talkiu'  spirits;  and  I  didn't  that  night,  but  next  morn- 
ing it  ene'amost  took  my  breath;  for  the  writin'  was  Dave's — 
his  crooked-backed  'Ds'  I  remembered — and  the  queer  little 
pot-hooks  said:  '  Go  dowd  the  path  to  the  creek.  Miss  Mother, 
and  you'll  find  what  you  want  to  know.'  Signed  'your  Dave.' 
Just  like  him,  the  darlin'.  Well,  I  cried  some,  but  I  was  beat 
when  I  found  my  name,  Mrs.  Susan  Wixom,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  sheet. 

"  When  we  returned  home  it  was  summer,  and  only  last  Sun- 
day I  went  dow  the  path  to  the  creek,  as  he  told  me,  just  to 
see  what  the  little  chap  meant.  And  there  where  the  boys 
went  in  swimmin',  all  round  on  the  bank  in  full  blow,  tall, 
and  straight,  and  handsome,  and  double,  stood  those  holly- 
hocks, you  know. 

"  Then  I  rememberd  Dave  was  bid  not  togo  in  swimmin'  that 
April,  but  it  'pears,  spite  of  all,  that  he  did;  and  comin'  across 
the  wood  that  day  he  went  in  and  lost  the  seed,  and  never 
would  own  it,  kuowin'  that  'twould  betray  him  in  the  deed. 

'•  Well,  I  sat  down  there  and  kept  thinking,  and  somehow  I 
kinder  believe  it  was  Dave  who  wrote  me  that  message,  seein' 
how  I  had  worried  and  grieved.  But  I  have  not  lost  my  faith, 
and  my  standing  is  good  in  the  church,  and  I  have  decided  to 
lift  some  of  them  posies  just  to  show  my  forgiveness  of  Dave, 
and  plant  them,  the  fairest  and  brightest,  all  round  on  my 
darling  boy's  grave." 


AND  IJRKRAL  I.KCTL'RES.  2O5 


THE    LITTLE    GRAVE. 


"It's  only  a  little  .c^rave,"  they  said — 

"Only  just  a  child  that's  dead;" 
And  so  they  carelessly  turned  away 
From  the  mound  the  spade  had  made  that  day; 
Ah,  they  did  not  know  how  deep  a  shade 
That  little  grave  in  our  home  has  made  ! 

I  know  the  coffin  was  narrow  and  small — 
One  yard  would  have  serv-ed  for  an  ample  pall. 
And  one  man  in  his  arms  could  have  borne  away 
The  oakwood  and  its  freight  of  clay; 
But  I  know  that  darling  hopes  were  hid 
Beneath  that  little  coffin-lid. 

I  know  that  a  mother  stood  that  day. 
With  folded  arms,  by  that  form  of  clay; 
I  know  that  burning  tears  were  hid 
'Neath  the  drooping  lash  and  aching  lid; 
And  I  know  that  her  lips  and  cheek  and  brow 
Were  almost  as  white  as  her  baby's  now. 

I  know  some  things  were  hid  away — 
The  crimson  frock  and  wrappings  gay; 
The  little  sock  and  half-worn  shoe, 
The  ne'er  worn  muff  and  ribbons  blue; 
And  an  empty  crib,  with  its  covers  spread. 
As  white  as  the  face  of  her  guileless  dead. 


206  FREE-THOUGHT    POEMS 

'Tis  a  little  grave;  but  oh,  have  a  care, 
For  many  hopes  are  buried  there; 
And  ye,  perhaps,  in  coming  years. 
Will  understand  our  sighs,  our  tears. 
How  much  of  light,  how  much  of  pleasure, 
Is  buried  with  our  only  treasure  ! 


COWARDICE. 


The  veriest  coward  upon  earth 

Is  he  who  fears  the  world's  opinion, 

Who  acts  with  reference  to  its  will, 

His  conscience  swayed  by  its  dominion. 

Mind  is  not  worth  a  feather's  weight, 
That  must  by  other  minds  be  measured; 

Self  must  direct  and  self  control, 

And  the  account  with  conscience  treasured. 

Fear  never  sways  a  manly  soul, 

For  honest  hearts  'twas  ne'er  intended. 

They — only  they  have  cause  to  fear, 
Whose  motives  have  the  truth  offended. 

What  will  my  neighbors  say  if  I 

Should  this  attempt,  or  that,  or  t'other.? 

A  neighbor  is  most  sure  a  foe 

If  he  not  prove  a  helping  brother. 


AXI)  I.IBKKAI.  I.HCTrkKS.  207 

Tliat  mail  is  brave  who  braves  the  world, 
When  o'er  life's  sea  his  bark  he  steereth; 

Who  keeps  that  f^uiding  star  in  view, 
A  conscience  clear  which  never  veeretli. 


^~^- — ^^=^^^=^ — -.-^r 


RIGHT    OHWARD. 


Right  onward  I  right  onward  !  Ixdiind  the  work's   fin- 
ished, 
A  few  tired  toilers  have  lain  clown  to  rest, 
Bnt  forward  the  work  seems  untouched,  undeminished, 
There  are  waters  to  wade,    there  are  big  waves  to 
breast; 
There  is  fighting  to  do,  there  are  foes  to  o'ercome: 

But  fight  on  in  concord  and  always  remember 
Each  blow  snaps  a  fetter  from  nations  to  come. 

Right  onward !  right  onward !  stay  not  for  fond  partings ; 

Lose  not  the  fair  hours  by  the  graves  of  the  dead; 
Waste  not  your  best  nerve  in  fond  sighings  and  start- 
ings; 

March  on  in  the  track  where  brave  thinkers  have  led. 
Up  !  up  !  with  your  arms  and  march  on  to  the  battle — 

The  day  will  be  hot  and  the  contest  be  long; 
But  while  the  darts  drop  and  the  dark  missiles  rattle, 

Go  on  to  the  conquest  with  music  and  song. 


208  FKKE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

Right  onward  !  right  onward  !  your  foes  fill  the  passes; 

Untruth  and  Injustice,  Crime,  Ignorance,  Vice; 
They  lurk  on  the  edge  of  the  losughs  and  morasses, 

Dressed  out  in  deluding  and  sombre  device. 
Turn  not  from  the  path  to  the  past  dead  or  dying. 
There  are  flowers  in  the  track  Progress  makes  for  her 
feet; 
We  may  cull  them  and  strew  them  as  winged  hours  are 
flying 
But  still  be   ' '  Right  onward ' '  your  song  loud  and 
sweet. 

Right  onward  !  right  onward  !  the  time  is  advancing — 

The  night  shades  are  low' ring,  the  sun  has  gone  down; 
But  still  on  the  white  road  your  armor  be  glancing. 

And  still  throng  recruits  from  each  hamlet  and  town ; 
Oh  !  woe  to  the  foe  who  would  bar  us  from  freedom; 

Away  with  the  tongue  that  forbids  us  to  speak; 
They   who  will  not  move  on,  hurl  aside   never   heed 
them — 

While  we  battle  on  and  fight  for  the  weak. 


AND  I.IBKRAL  LECTURES.  209 


THE    TRANSFIGURATION. 


A  youthful  painter  found  one  day 

In  the  streets  of  Rome  a  child  at  play; 

And  moved  by  the  beauty  that  it  bore, 

The  heavenly  look  its  features  wore, 

On  a  canvas  radiant  and  grand 

He  painted  its  face  with  a  master  hand. 

Year  after  year  on  his  wall  it  hung; 
'Twas  ever  joyful  and  always  young, 
Driving  away  all  thought  of  gloom 
As  the  painter  toiled  in  his  lonely  room 

But  the  painter's  locks  grew  thin  and  gray; 

His  young  ambition  had  passed  away; 

He  looked  for  years,  in  many  a  place, 

To  find  a  contrast  to  that  sweet  face. 

Through  haunts  of  vice  in  the  night  he  strayed 

To  find  some  ruin  that  crime  had  made; 

And  at  last,  in  a  prison  cell,  he  caught, 

A  glimpse  of  the  hideous  face  he  sought. 

On  a  canvas,  weird  and  wild,  but  grand. 

He  painted  the  features  with  a  master  hand. 

That  loathsome  wretch  in  the  dungeon  low, 
With  the  face  of  a  fiend  and  the  look  of  woe, 
Ruined  by  revels  and  stained  by  sin, 
A  pitiful  wreck  of  what  once  he  had  been. 
Hated  and  shunned  and  without  a  home — 
Was  the  child  that  played  in  the  streets  of  Rome  ! 


2IO  FREE-THOUGHT   POEMS 


THE    TWO    GLASSES. 


There  sat  two  glasses,  filled  to  the  brim, 
On  a  rich  man's  table,  rim  to  rim; 
One  was  ruddy  and  red  as  blood. 
And  one  was  clear  as  the  cr3'Stal  flood. 

Said  the  glass  of  wine  to  the  paler  brother, 

"  Let  us  tell  the  tales  of  the  past  to  each  other: 

I  can  tell  of  banquet  and  revel  and  mirth, 

And  the  proudest  and  grandest  souls  on  earth 

Fell  under  my  touch  as  though  struck  b}'  blight, 

Where  I  was  a  king,  for  I  ruled  in  might; 

From  the  heads  of  kings  I  have  torn  the  crown. 

From  the  heights  of  fame  I  have  hurled  them  down. 

I  have  blasted  many  an  honored  name; 

I  have  taken  virtue  and  given  shame; 

I  have  tempted  the  youth  with  a  sip,  a  taste. 

That  has  made  his  future  a  barren  waste. 

Far  greater  than  a  king  am  I, 

Or  than  any  army  beneath  the  sky; 

I  have  made  the  arm  of  the  driver  fail, 

And  sent  the  train  from  the  iron  rail; 

I  have  made  the  good  ships  go  down  at  sea. 

And  the  shrieks  of  the  lost  were  sweet  to  me. 

For  they  said,  'Behold  how  great  you  be. 

Fame,  strength,  wealth,  genius,  before  you  fall, 

For  your  might  and  power  are  over  all !' 

Ho!  ho  !  pale  brother,"  laughed  the  wine, 

"Can  you  boast  of  deeds  as  great  as  mine?" 


AND     IJHKKAI.     I.KCTURKS.  21  I 

Said  the  crystal  glass,  "I  cannot  boast 

Of  a  king  dethroned  or  a  murdered  host, 

But  I  can  tell  of  a  heart,  once  sad, 

By  my  crystal  drops  made  light  and  glad — 

Of  thrists  I've  quenched,  of  brows  I'vq  laved. 

Of  hands  I've  cooled,  and  souls  I  have  saved; 

I  have  leaped  through  the  valley,  dashed  down    tlie 

mountain. 
Flowed  in  the  river,  and  played  in  the  fountain, 
Slept  in  the  sunshine,  and  dropped  from  the  sky, 
And  ever>' where  gladdened  the  landscape  and  eye: 
I  have  eased  the  hot  forehead  of  fever  and  pain, 
I  have  made  the  parched  meadow  grow    fertile    with 

grain; 
I  can  tell  of  the  powerful  wheel  of  the  mill 
That  ground  out  flour  and  turned  at  my  will; 
I  can  tell  of  manhood  debased  by  you 
That  I  lifted  up  and  crowned  anew; 
I  cheer,  I  help,  I  strengthen,  I  aid; 
I  gladden  the  heart  of  man  and  maid; 
I  set  the  wine-chaind  captive  free, 
And  all  are  better  for  knowing  me." 

These  are  the  tales  they  told  each  other — 
The  glass  of  wine  and  its  paler  brother — 
As  they  sat  together,  filled  to  the  brim. 
On  the  rich  man's  table,  rim  to  rim. 


212  FREE  THOUGHT   POEMS 


THE    PARSOH'S    VACATIOH. 


The  old  man  went  to  nieetin',  for  the  day  was  bright 

and  fair, 
Though  his  limbs  were  very  totterin'   and  'twas  hard 

to  travel  there; 
But  he  hungered  for  the  gospel,  so  he  trudged  the  weary 

way, 
On  the  road  so  rough  and  dusty,  'neath  the  summer's 

burning  ray  ! 

By  and  by  he  reached  the  buildin',  to  his  soul  a  holy 

place; 
Then  he  paused  and  wiped  the  sweat  drops  off  his  thin 

and  wrinkled  face; 
But  he  looked  around  bewildered,  for  the  old  bell  did 

not  toll, 
All  the  doors  were  shut  and  bolted,  and  he  didn't  see 

a  soul. 

So  he  leaned  upon  his  crutches,   and  he  said,    "what 

does  it  mean  ?" 
And  he  looked  this  way  and  that,  till  it  seemed  almost 

a  dream; 
He  had  walked  the  dusty  highway,  and  he  breathed  a 

heavy  sigh — 
Just  to  go  once  more  to  meetin'  ere  the  summons  comes 

to  die. 


AND  LIBERAL    LKCTURKS.  213 

But  he  saw  a  little  notice  tacked  upon  the  meetin'  door. 
So  he  limped  along  to  read  it,  and  he  read  it  o'er  and 

o'er; 
Then  he  wiped  his  dusty  glasses,   and  he  read  it  o'er 

again, 
Till  his  limbs  began  to  tremble,  and  his  eyes  began  to 

pain. 

As  the  old  man  read  the  notice,  how  it  made  his  spirit 

burn, 
"Pastor  absent  on  a  vacation,  church  closed  until  his 

return;" 
Then  he  staggered  slowly  backward,   and  he  sat  him 

down  to  think, 
For  his  soul  was  stirred  within  him,   till  he    thought 

his  heart  would  sink. 

So  he  mused  aloud  and  wondered  to  himself  soliloquized 

I  have  lived  to  almost  eighty,  and  was  never  so  sur- 
prised, 

As  I  read  the  oddest  notice,  stickin'  on  the  meetin' 
door: 

"Pastor  off  on  a  vacation."  never  heard  the  like  before. 

Why,  when  I  first  joint  the  meetin',  very  many  years 

ago. 
Preachers  traveled  on    the    circuit,    in    the    heat    and 

through  the  snow, 
If  they  got  their  clothes  and  victuals,  ('twas  but  little 

cash  they  got,) 
They  said  nothin'  'bout  vacation,   but  were  happy  in 

their  lot. 


214  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

Would  the  farmer  leave  his  cattle,   or   the    shepherd 

leave  his  sheep? 
Who  would  give  them  care  and  shelter,    or    provide 

them  food  to  eat  ? 
So  it  strikes  me  very  sing'ler,   when  a  man    of  holy 

bands, 
Thinks  he  needs  to  have  vacation,  and    forsake    the 

tender  lambs. 

Did  St.  Paul  get  such  a  notion  ?     Did  a  Weslev  or  a 
Knox? 

Did  they  in  the  heat  ot  summer,  turn  away  the  need)^ 

flocks  ? 
Did  the}^  shut  their  meetin'   houses,  just  to   go    and 

lounge  about? 
Why  they  knew  if  they  did,   Satan    certainly   would 

shout. 

Do  the  taverns  close  their  bar-rooms,  just  to  take    a 

Httle  rest  ? 
Why,  'twould  be  the  height  of  nonsense,  for  their  trade 

would  be  distressed; 
Did  you  ever  know  it  happened,  or  hear  anybody  tell, 
Satan  takin'  a  vacation,  shutten'  up  the  doors  of  hell  ? 

And  shall  preachers  of  the  gospel,  pack  their  trunks 

and  go  away, 
Leavin'  saints  and  sinners,  get  along  the  best  they  may; 
Are  the  souls  of  saints  and  sinners  valued  less   than 

selling  beer  ? 
Or  do  preachers  tire  quicker  than  the  rest   of  people 

here. 


AND  LIBKRAL  I.HCTURKS.  215 

Why  it  is  I  cannot  answer,  Init  my  feelins'   they    are 

stirred. 
Here  I've  dragged  my  totterin'   footsteps,   for  to  hear 

the  gospel  word, 
But  the  preacher  is  a  travelin',  and  the  meetin'   house 

is  closed. 
I  confess  it's  very  tryin'  hard  indeed  to  keep  composed. 

Tell  me,  when  I  tread  the  valley  and  go  to  the  shining 
height, 

Will  I  hear  no  angel  singing — will  I  see  no  gleaming 
light, 

Will  the  golden  harps  be  silent — will  I  meet  no  wel- 
come there  ? 

W^hy,  the  thought  would  be  most  distractin",  'twould 
be  more  than  I  could  bear. 

Tell  me  !  when   I  reach  the  city,   over  on    the    other 

shore. 
Will  I  find  a  little  notice  tacked  upon  the  golden  door. 
Telling  me,  'mid  dreadful  silence,  writ  in  words  that 

cut  and  burn, 
"Jesus  absent  on   vacation — Heaven  clo.sed  until  His 

return." 


M 


2l6  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 


PLUCK    AMD    PRAYER 


"There  wa'n't  any  use  o'  fretting 

An'  I  told  Obadiah  so, 
^For  ef  we  couldn't  hold  on  to  things, 

We'd  jest  got  to  let  'em  go. 
Thar  were  lots  of  folks  that  'd  suffer 

Along  with  the  rest  of  us, 
,And  it  didn't  seem  to  be  wurth  our  while 

To  make  such  a  dreffie  fuss. 

'To  be  sure  the  barn  was  'most  empty, 

An'  corn  an'  pertaters  sca'ce, 
.An'  not  much  of  anything  plenty  an'  cheap 

But  water— an'  apple-sass. 
But  then — as  I  told  Obadiah — 

It  wa'n't  any  use  to  groan. 
For  flesh  an'  blood  couldn't  stan'  it;  an  he 

Was  nothing  but  skin  an'  bone. 

"But,  laws  !  ef  you  only  heerd  him, 

At  any  hour  of  the  night, 
A-prayin'  out  in  that  closet  there, 

'Twould  have  set  you  crazy  quite. 
J  patched  the  knees  of  those  trousers 

With  cloth  that  was  nowa3'S  thin, 


ANT)  LIBERAL    LECTURES.  217 

But  it  seemed  as  ef  the  places  wore  out 
As  fast  as  I  set  'em  iti. 


To  me  he  said  mighty  little 

Of  the  thorny  way  we  trod, 
But  at  least  a  dozen  times  a  daj' 

He  talked  it  over  with  God. 
Down  on  liis  knees  in  that  closet 

The  most  of  his  time  was  passed; 
For  Obadiah  knew  how  to  pra\' 

Much  better  than  how  to  fast. 

But  I  am  that  way  contriary 

That  ef  things  don't  go  jest  right 
I  feel  like  rolling  my  sleeves  up  high 

An'  gittin'  ready  to  fight. 
An'  the  giants  I  slew  that  winter 

I  ain't  goin'  to  talk  about; 
An'  I  didn't  even  complain  to  God, 

Though  I  think  he  found  it  out. 

■ 
With  the  point  of  a  cambric  needle 

I  druv  the  wolf  from  the  door. 
For  I  knew  that  ■\j-e  needn't  star\-e  to  death 

Or  be  lazy  because  we  were  poor. 
An'  Obadiah  he  wondered, 

An'  kept  me  patchin'  his  knees, 
An'  thought  it  strange  how  the  meal  held  out, 

An'  stranger  we  didn't  freeze. 

But  I  said  to  mj-self  in  whispers, 

"God  knows  where  His  gift  descends; 


2l8  FRKE  THOUGHT   POEMS 

An'  'tisn't  always  that  faith  gits  down 

As  far  as  the  finger-ends. ' ' 
An'  I,  wouldn't  have  no  one  reckon 

My  Obadiah  a  shirk, 
For  some,  you  know,  have  the  gift  tojpray, 

And  others  the  gift  to  work. 


««< ►— • >H^I" —  '^* »»> 


IF    WE    KHEW 


If  we  knew  the  woe  and  heartache 

Waiting  for  us  down  the  road. 
If  our  lips  could  taste  the  wormwood, 

If  our  backs  could  feel  the  load; 
Would  we  waste  the  day  in; wishing 

For  a  time  that  ne'er  can  be? 
Would  we  wait  with  such  impatience 

For  our  ship  to  come  from  sea  ? 
■ 

If  we  knew  the  baby  fingers. 

Pressed  against  the  window  Ipane, 
Would  be  cold  and  stiff  to-morrow — 

Never  trouble  us  again; 
Would  the  bright  eyes  of  our  darling 

Catch  the  frown  upon  our  brow^  ? 
Would  the  print  of  rosy  fingers 

Vex  us  then  as  they  do  now  ? 

Ah,  these  little  ice-cold  fingers  ! 
How  they  point  our  memories  back 


AND  I.IUHRAL  Ll'XTURES.  2I9 

To  the  hasty  words  and  actions 
Strewn  along  our  backward  track  I 

How  these  little  hands  remind  us. 
As  in  snowy  grace  they  lie, 

Not  to  scatter  thorns,  but  roses, 
For  our  reaping  by  and  by. 

Strange  we  never  prize  the  nuisic 

Till  the  sweet-voiced  bird  has  flown; 
Strange  that  we  should  slight  the  violets 

Till  the  lovely  flowers  are  gone; 
Strange  that  summer  skies  and  sunshine 

Never  seem  one-half  so  fair 
As  when  winter's  snowy  pinions 

Shake  tlieir  white  down  in  the  air. 

Lips  from  which  the  seal  of  .silence 

None  but  God  can  roll  away. 
Never  blossomed  in  such  beauty 

As  adorns  the  mouth  to-day; 
And  .sweet  words  that  freight  our  memorv 

With  their  Ijeautiful  perfume, 
Come  to  us  in  sweeter  accents 

Through  the  pQrtals  of  the  tomb. 

Let  us  gather  up  the  sunbeams, 

Lying  all  around  our  path; 
Let  us  keep  the  wheat  and  ro.ses, 

Casting  out  the  thorns  and  chaff; 
Let  us  find  our  sweetest  comfort 

In  the  blessings  of  to-day, 
With  the  patient  hand  removing 

All  the  briars  from  our  wav. 


220  FREE  THOUGHT  POEMS 


KO  SECTS  IK  HEAVEK. 

Talking  of  sects  till  late  one  eve, 
Of  the  various  doctrines  the  saints  believe, 
That  night  I  stood  in  a  troubled  dream, 
By  the  side  of  a  darkly  flowing  stream. 

And  a  "Churchman"  down  to  the  river  came. 
When  I  heard  a  strange  voice  call  his  name, 
"Good  father,  stop;  when  you  cross  the  tide. 
You  must  leave  your  robes  on  the  other  side." 

But  the  aged  father  did  not  mind. 
And  his  long  gown  floated  out  behind, 
As  down  the  stream  his  way  he  took, 
His  pale  hands  clasping  a  gilt-edged  book. 

"I'm  bound  for  Heaven,  and  when  I'm  there 
Shall  want  my  Book  of  Common  Prayer: 
And,  though  I  put  on  a  starry  crown, 
I  should  feel  quite  lost  without  my  gown." 

Then  he  fixed  his  eyes  on  the  shining  track, 
But  his  gown  was  heavj^  and  held  him  back, 
And  the  poor  old  father  tried  in  vain, 
A  single  step  in  the  flood  to  gain. 

I  saw  him  again  on  the  other  side, 
But  his  silk  gown  floated  on  the  tide; 


AND  LIBKRAI,    LKCTURES.  221 

And  no  one  asked,  in  that  blissful  spot, 
Whether  he  belonged  to  the  "Church"  or  not. 

Then  down  to  the  river  a  Quaker  strayed ; 
His  dress  of  sober  hue  was  made: 
"My  coat  and  hat  must  all  be  gra}* — 
I  cannot  go  any  other  way." 

Then  he  buttoned  his  coat  straight  up  to  his  chin. 
And  staidly,  solemnly,  waided  in, 
And  his  broad-brimmed  hat  he  pulled  down  tight. 
Over  his  forehead  so  cold  and  white. 

But  a  strong  wind  carried  away  his  hat; 
A  moment  he  silently  sighed  over  that; 
And  then,  as  he  gazed  on  the  further  shore, 
The  coat  slipped  off,  and  was  seen  no  more. 

As  he  entered  Heaven  his  suit  of  gray 
Went  quietly  sailing,  away,  away; 
And  none  of  the  angels  questioned  him 
About  the  width  of  his  beaver's  brim. 

Next  came  Dr.  Watts,  with  his  bundle  of  psalms 

Tied  nicely  up  in  his  aged  arms; 

And  hymns  as  many,  a  very  wise  thing, 

That  the  people  in  Heaven,  "all  around,"  might  sing. 

But  I  thought  that  he  heaved  an  anxious  sigh 
As  he  saw  that  the  river  ran  broad  and  high. 
And  looked  rather  surprised,  as  one  by  one 
The  psalms  and  hymns  with  the  wave  went  down. 


2  22  FREE-THOUGHT  POEMS 

And  after  him,  with  his  MSS., 

Came  Wesley,  the  pattern  of  godliness; 

But  he  cried,  "Dear  me  !  what  shall  I  do? 

The  water  has  soaked  them  through  and  through. 

A  voice  arose  from  the  brethren  then, 
"Let  no  one  speak  but  the  'holy  men'; 
For  have  ye  not  heard  the  words  of  Paul, 
'Oh,  let  the  women  keep  silence  all?'  " 

I  watched  them  long  in  my  curious  dream. 
Till  they  stood  by  the  borders  of  the  stream; 
Then,  just  as  I  thought,  the  two  ways  met; 
But  all  the  brethren  were  talking  yet. 

And  would  talk  on  till  the  heaving  tide 
Carried  them  over  side  by  side — 
Side  by  side,  for  the  way  was  one. 
The  toilsome  journey  of  life  was  done. 

No  forms  or  crosses  or  books  had  they; 
No  gowns  of  silk  or  .suits  of  gray; 
No  creeds  to  guide  them,  or  MSS., 
For  all  had  put  on  true  righteousness. 


AND  LII5KKAL  I.KCTURES.  22^ 


WE  REAP  WHAT  WE  SOW. 


For  pleasure  or  pain,  for  weal  or  for  woe — 
"Ti.s  the  law  of  our  being,  we  reap  what  we  sow: 
We  may  try  to  evade  them,  do  what  we  will. 
Our  acts,  like  our  sdadows,  will  follow  us  till. 

The  world  is  a  wonderful  chemist,  be  sure. 
And  detects  in  a  moment  the  base  or  the  pure; 
We  may  boast  of  our  claims  to  genius  or  birth. 
But  the  world  takes  a  man  for  just  what  he's  worth. 

We  start  in  the  race  of  our  fortune  or  fame. 
And  then,  when  we  fail,  the  world  bears  the  blame: 
But  nine  times  out  often  'tis  plain  to  be  .seen. 
There  is  a  "screw  loose"  in  the  human  machine. 

Are  you  wearied  and  worn  in  the  hard,  earthly  stirfe  ? 
Do  you  yearn  for  affection  to  sweeten  your  life  ? 
Remember  this  truth  has  often  been  proved : 
We  must  make  ourselves  lovable,  would  we  be  loved. 

Though  life  may  appear  as  a  desolate  track. 

Yet  the  bread  that  we  cast  on  the  water  comes  back. 

This  law  was  enacted  by  Heaven  above. 

That  like  attracts  like,  and  love  begets  love. 


224  FREE  THOUGHT  POEMS 

We  are  proud  of  our  mansions  of  mortar  and  stone, 
In  our  gardens  are  flowers  from  every  zone; 
But  the  beautiful  graces  that  blossom  within 
Grow  shriveled  and  die  in  the  Upas  of  sin. 

We  may  make  ourselves  heroes  or  martyrs  for  gold, 
Till  health  becomes  broken  and  youth  becomes  old, 
Ah  !  did  we  the  same  for  beautiful  love, 
Our  lives  might  be  music  for  angels  above. 

We   reap  what  we  sow — oh,  wonderful  truth  ! 
A  truth  hard  to  learn  in  the  days  of  our  youth; 
But  shines  out  at  last,  as  the  hand  on  the  wall, 
For  the  world  has  its  debit  and  credit  for  all. 


AND  LIBERAL  LKCTURES. 


THE    PRIESTS    OF    GOD. 


Who  are  the  priests  whom  God  appoints? 
Whose  heads  with  wisdom  He  annoiiiLs 

To  spread  His  truths  abroad. 
Not  those  who  mumble  o'er  the  creeds, 
But  those  who  plant  truth's  living  seeds, 

Are  the  true  priests  of  God. 

Humanity  !  what  hast  thou  gained 
From  those  the  churches  have  ordained  ? 

They've  but  increased  thy  load; 
Apologists  in  ever}-  clime 
Of  outrage,  tyranny,  and  crime — 

They're  not  the  priests  of  God. 

Ah  !   'tis  to  the  uncanoni/.ed, 
The  persecuted  and  despised, 

That  God  reveals  the  light; 
And  they're  the  fearless  ones  that  rise 
Against  earth's  concentrated  lies. 

And  battle  for  the  right. 

They  are  the  poets,  bards  and  seers 
Whose  words  draw  sympathetic  tears 

E'en  from  the  stul)born  clod; 
And  bear  us  on  the  wings  of  song. 
Above  defilement,  blight  and  wrong. 

The}-  are  the  priests  of  God. 


226  FRKE-THOUGHT    POEMS 

The  heralds  of  a  hope  sublime, 
Forerunners  of  a  better  time, 

The  leaders  of  the  van ; 
And  fearlessly  they  are  marching  forth, 
Proclaiming  over  all  the  earth 

The  brotherhood  of  man. 


They  wear  no  sacerdotal  weeds, 

They  know  no  churches,  sects,  nor  creeds, 

But  in  the  truth  are  strong; 
They  are  the  priests  whom  God  ordains 
To  break  men's  spiritual  chains, 

And  overthrow  the  wrong. 

Yes,  they  are  the  priests  of  the  Most  High, 
Whose  temples  are  the  earth  and  sky, 

The  sea  and  running  brook; 
Interpreters  of  Nature's  lines, 
And  of  the  symbols  and  the  signs 

In  her  eternal  book. 

They  read  God's  scriptures  everywhere, 
In  stellar  worlds,  in  sea  and  air. 

And  in  the  flowery  sod; 
They  only  are  the  true  divines. 
Through  whom  the  light  of  Nature  shines 

The  great  High  Priests  of  God, 

Communion  with  the  saints  above. 
Relying  on  Almighty  love. 
The  universal  plan— 


AND  MBKKAI.  LPXTUKKS.  227 

They  feel  their  own  divinity, 
And  find  the  glorious  Trinity 
In  Nature,  God,  and  Man. 

Poets  or  bards  !  whafer  ye  are  ! 
Who  bring  us  tidings  from  afar, 

To  brighten  our  abode — 
Through  whom  the  heavens  connnunicate 
The  glories  of  our  future  state. 

Ye' re  the  High  Priests  ot  God. 


9 — No  Royal   Road York 

II — What  I  Live    For 

13— Eternal  Justice Chas.  Mackay 

16 — The  Chemistry  of  Character Lizzie  Doteu 

1 9 — Evolution  (lecture) York 

34 — My  Religion York 

36 — Backbone 

3S— Be   Thyself Denton 

39— Evolution York 

42— Infidelity — Our  Religion  (lecture) York 

54— I  Want  to  Be  an   Infidel York 

56 — Nature  and  Grace Lizzie  Doten 

60--WMII  It  Pay? Lizzie  Doten 

64 — The  Moneyless  Man Stanton 

66 — How  to  Be  Happy  (lecture) York 

Sr— A  Respectable  Lie 

84— Pat  and  the  Pig 

86 — 1  Have  Drank  my  Last  Glass- 

89 — Compensation   York 

92— The  Scarlet  Woman  (lecture) York 

T06— The  Old  Man  Goes  to  vSchool Jno.  H.  Yates 

109 — The  Spirit  of  Nature Lizzie  Doten 

III— The  Parson's  School Mrs.  J.  L.  York 

115 — What  I  Once  Thought Denton 

117— The  Devil  is  Dead Denton 

119 — The  Old  Man  Goes  to  'Frisco 

124 — Only  Waiting 

126 — The  Triumph  of  Life Lizzie  Doten 

128— Daisy  Dean Mrs.  J.  L.  York 

140— The  Hindoo  Skeptic London  Spectator 

142 — Save  Your  Soul ^' 

144 — We  Meet  Upon  the  Level,  etc 

146 — The  Voice  of  the  People Jas.  G.  Clark 

149 — Living  Stones 


151— Call  Him  Mad 4 

153 — Heaven  Cannot  Save 

155 — Somebody's  Mother Boston  Globe 

157 — The  Dying  Infidel 

159 — Rev.  Josiah  Williams Mrs.  j.  L.  York 

172 — There's  Room  for  All H.  C.  Preuss 

174— Who  Shall  Judge 

176— The  People's  Advent Gerald  Massey 

1 78— The   Sin  of  Omission Margaret  E.  Sangster 

iSo— What  Rules  the   World 

iSi— We  Shall  Know 

1S3— What  Is   Infidelity 

185 — Memory  of  Thomas  Paine C.  Fannie  Allyn 

iSS— Love  Me  Now 

189— There  is  No   Death 

191 — Keep  Your  Faces  to  the   Light 

193— -The  Mortgage  on  the  Farm Will  Carleton 

195— On  Creation 

197— Why  Is    This 

199— Mr.  De  Splae 

202 — Dave's  Hollyhocks 

205— The  Little   Grave S.  Wheeler 

206 — Cowardice 

207 — Right  Onward John  Rowell  Waller 

209 — The  Transfiguration 

210 — The   Two    Glasses Pittsburgh  Post 

212 — The   Parson's   Vacation 

216— Pluck   and   Prayer 

218— If  We   Knew 

220 — No  Sects  In  Heaven 

223 — We  Reap  What   We   Sow 

225 — The  Priests  of  God Alex.   M'Lachlan. 


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